The End of the War

Games Prime War
#1

Hello, Sentinels fans.

I write this update with a heavy heart. This year has been a big one for everyone, one way or another, no matter how you slice it. We’ve got a bunch of major products that are finally coming out this year, and we’re also spinning up various new projects, collaborations, and crossovers. It’s an exciting time, but also - especially with everything else going on in the world - a time of reflection and consideration.

Even before the novel coronavirus was a thing everyone was talking and thinking about, we were talking seriously and heavily about Prime War. Prime War is a product that we have a lot of our heart wrapped up in. I am speaking for myself personally when I say that I love most everything about it, from the people working on it, to the engines and intentions of the game mechanics, to the stories we set out to tell with it. Prime War started as a labor of love, following up with the hopes and dreams we put into Sentinel Tactics and trying to chase that dream from a different angle. But, after much consideration, we have decided to cancel Prime War. 

To be clear, this isn’t a reaction to recent events. This is a reaction to a lot of discussion and market research. Sentinel Tactics came out to a market that was largely indifferent to it, so in the wake of that release and all of the work we put into marketing it - including the livestreamed tournaments from over a year’s worth of major conventions - we knew we needed a different approach to make that style of game work. After various failed starts on our end, we were presented with a new option. The folks at Lore Forge Games came to us with a proposal of how to make that work, and they brought with them innovative design, a thrilling and brilliant die mechanic, and a ton of passion. We saw in them a lot of what we love about our own collaborative process, and we eagerly jumped into making Prime War into a reality. Between the fine folks at Lore Forge and the various teams here at GTG, we’ve all invested hundreds of hours on Prime War. But that doesn’t necessarily produce ultimate success.

We know that there are a lot of people excited about many parts of Prime War. We count ourselves among that number. But the truth of the situation is that the sort of game that Prime War is doesn’t have the market interest to go forward in the way we’ve been planning. We had a big meeting with the Lore Forge team late last year and then another follow-up meeting at the beginning of this year, and we all ultimately decided that either the game needed to be rebuilt from the ground up as a different game, or we needed to put this to bed and walk away. Neither outcome was attractive, but after much deliberation, this is where we’ve all landed. We had intended to make this announcement in March, but, well, some things have happened this year that set everything back. 

Besides sharing with you what’s happening with this project, and some specific details about what happens next that Paul will share soon here in this update, I wanted to apologize for the way this ended up. This project has been plagued with delays and false starts since before it even had the name “Prime War”. We could have done a better job in a lot of ways. I don’t know that it would have made a difference when we got to this point of this decision, but it would have made a difference in how all of you felt about how the process was going. That’s on us, and I am sorry for letting you down that way. Part of the consideration we’re doing right now as a company involves ways for us to improve our communication and connection with you fantastic folks, and the rest of the gaming industry in general. Thank you for sticking with us as we grow and change and make mistakes along the way.

Here is the CEO of Greater Than Games, Paul Bender, with some words about how we’re going to proceed forward with putting this project to rest:

Hi everyone, Paul here. 

I'm incredibly disappointed that we had to make this decision, and I want to let all of you know how much I appreciate all of your patience on this project, and how much it hurts to cancel it.

Because we are cancelling the game, we are absolutely going to give a full refund to any of you who paid for the Sentinel Tactics: Broken City preorder. We have the old records from that preorder, but since a lot has changed since then, if we owe you a refund, please email us at contact@greaterthangames.com with your current PayPal payment information and we'll get you taken care of right away. If you happen to have your old receipt, please attach that as well. If not, we'll still be able to look you up, so don’t worry.

Thank you.

-Paul

Thank you, Paul. And thank you as well to everyone here at Greater Than Games who has worked on Prime War and supported the development of this game over the last several years.

I’d especially like to thank everyone at Lore Forge for their passion, their inspiration, and their hard work. Over the last decade of this job, I’ve had a variety of projects come and go, and watching a thing you make not go the way you wanted is one of the hardest things to experience as a creator. I know that this outcome is incredibly difficult for everyone involved, and I want to make it clear that none of this should negatively reflect any of their work or ideas. Ryan, Codie, AJ, and Jimmy: you’re all awesome, and it’s been a true honor to get to work with you on this. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last time we collaborate on a project, and I wish you all the best of luck in all of your future endeavors.

And, ultimately, I want to thank all of you Sentinels fans for sticking with us over the years on all of our projects. We have so many, and while we understand intellectually that they can’t all be winners, that doesn’t make it easier to come face to face with. So, thank you for your support, and for sharing in our love of the world of Sentinel Comics. We here are also Sentinels fans - that’s how all of this got started, right? There wouldn’t be a Multiverse without all of you. So, thank you.

-Christopher Badell
Editor-in-Chief
Greater Than Games

#2

Thanks for the final announcement on this.  I'm sad Prime War won't come to light but at least there's a final answer on what happening. 

#3

I hope they are emailing those that did back because not everyone is checking the forums on this.

#4

Hello Morph147!

We will be emailing those that have not reached out for a refund later today.

#5

Geez. I've had a very srong hunch that this was the exact problem facing the project, but it sure doesn't make it any easier to read.

My first thought is that I'm really sad for the LFG crew. The demo I played was a few years ago. However, it was a rememberable experience, which at a gaming convention overflowing with experiences, is telling of how strong of a foundation they had.

I'm disapointed that this project will never come to light. But honestly, in the years since Tactics came out, my collection has added a ton of really quality titles that have already filled that void Tactics/Prime War wanted to fit into. And I found myself less excited about Prime War and more just frustrated when I remember every few months that I still had money in the project.

Christopher and Paul, this sucks for now, but thanks for at least ripping the bandaid. Stay healthy. Looking forward to seeing you all again after the rebuilding of society.

 

#6

Disappointing but not surprising.

I wonder if there's enough fan interest to drive this becoming a community project?  The core mechanics are reasonably solid, it's just the content (characters and scenarios) that needs development, and fans are good at creating content.

#7

Do you think there's a chance we could see some of the in progress product? (Like art or character cards?) From what I've heard a good amount was at least playtestable at conventions, even if it wasn't ready to be sold.

#8

Art? No way. >G can and will keep any of that in house for potential use in other projects. It wouldn’t make sense to just waste good assets.

Could we see some of the mechanics/rules as is, like release the PT files? That also seems highly unlikely. If LFG at the end of the day own the system and mechanics, they could theoretically shop the game to other publishers, but the status of all that I can’t speak to in the slightest.

#9

PayPal doesn't work for me since I emigrated, but I've emailed to try and resolve.

#10

Evidently this was difficult for everyone, but I'm glad there's a resolution one way or the other.  Thank you for the clarity. 

#11

I hope the storytelling of Vertex/Miststorm/Multiverse continues, even if this game won't come out.

#12

Very sad to hear about this, but also glad to have some closure.  And also glad to know that you'll be able to add more focus to more profitable (and therefore eventually playable by us) venues.

#13

This is literally the most devastating board game news I have ever had to endure. I got into Sentinel Tactics late (picked it up at a Christmas sale), and it quickly became my favorite miniatures game. I was heart-broken when we learned we had missed the chance to play in the tournaments (especially since, judging from the game play in the videos, we would have swept the floors XD).

 

Prime War has been a shining light in a future full of boring samey stuff, and I am so so upset to hear it has been cancelled. I don't remember the last time I physically felt my heart drop like it did reading this. I was willing to wait through all the delays, because GtG has proven that the wait is always worth it. I know this would have been, too, but you have to do what you feel is right for the company. It doesn't make sense to spend that much time and money to satisfy one or two customers.

 

I know this all sounds very dramatic, but Sentinel Comics has been really important to me for a long time. :-/

1 Like
#14

I can't imagine how hard this decision was to make, and I don't envy any of you having had to make it. :-( 

Thank you for the update! Disappointed, as others have said, but it's understandable and it sounds like it's the correct thing to do. Best wishes, folks, to all of you at GTG and LFG! 

#15

Aww. This looked so awesome. I hope they use the world building and art for something else.

#16

I dunno. Adam makes and shares a lot of Sentinels art just for fun, and even if he does that, he still owns the copyright (and GtG owns the IP), so they can still use it for other products. It’s not “wasted” by any stretch of the imagination.

That said, I don’t believe there’s much art to share, but if they wanted to polish up what they have just a tad and release it as a PbP–a lot of other companies have been doing similar things lately–it wouldn’t be impossible. Not effortless, and Adam would take the brunt of that, but not impossible.

#17

Darn. Tactics never quite clicked for me, so I was interested to see how Prime War might change the game for the better.

Mostly, I'm just hoping this isn't the end of that branch of the Sentinels universe. I've really been enjoying the lore teases coming out of Prime War, so it would be a real shame if the story just stopped here with the project.

#18

If you were on from the get-go, you're looking for a Broken City / For Profit receipt from early 2015.  Just to speed up the searching...

#19

It's hard to balancing the desire to fight for what you love with the fact that there is never enough time to do everything. It's important to pare down what you do, so you can focus on some of it.

While I have some curiousity about what Prime War might have been able to be, I never found the Vertex universe or the Prime Aspects compelling to me personally, and am happy to get my Sentinels story and gameplay fixes elsewhere.

There's a bag a few feet from me with Sentinel Tactics, minis, playmats, dice trays, and papers from running tournaments and meetups. I'm not sure when, if ever, I'll pull that out and make use of them again, but I had some really, really great times w/ Sentinel Tactics and am grateful for those experiences.

#20

I pull mine out every year for teen/tween “introduction to tactical miniature games” sessions at Who’s Yer Con. :smiley:
(Okay, not this year, but… :-\ )

And agreed – Tactics has been key to some wonderful memories, and Prime War allowed me to get to know some great folks even better. :slight_smile: