Jim Gindin has announced that he has sold his code to a start-up company. Algorithms based on FOF concepts will be used to power some of the features in a new sports gaming venture.
Founded in 1997, Solecismic Software is a small indie company that made PC-based American football management games such as Front Office Football versions 1 to 8 and FOF: The College Years.
Jim Gindin would reach national attention with FOF2 when Electronic Arts signed the title. EA provided visual design, a development team, came up with a new play-calling interface, and moving franchises. Having a AAA gaming company to publish your titles on PC at the rise of Madden, NHL, FIFA in the 90’s on console, was truly a remarkable height for the sports management genre.
Most recently Solecismic Software tried to link up with OOTP Developments to use their visual design expertise. Looking to give the FOF experience the modern UI upgrades and bring the game mainstream. If you have been following here on GM Games, you will know that is long over. OOTP Developments has even sold itself to a large South Korean publisher.
Though now times have changed. Micro-transactions through internet connectivity have created new aggressive monetization ideas.
The gaming format we are familiar with on GM Games has a tough road, though SEGA and Sports Interactive with Football Manager have proven that there is a world out there ready to love a game of their sport done in an immersive way. Maybe one day these companies will apply design thinking methodologies and map the customer experience people want to design and build a human-centered product. Not the business centric dev adventure you are supposed to fall in love with.
Further to the story, Jim has wrote a blog article about how this relates to his life, how it’s something new, how it took time to negotiate.
http://www.solecismic.com/announcement_2021.php
From our point of view, what could possibly come out of this to benefit our genre? The answer is likely nothing. FOF8 will be getting a new roster and the code will be chopped up into parts to support something that isn’t the FOF model.
At some point everyone steps away, ends the development backlog of their projects and games wrap-up for many reasons. FOF and what it achieved will continue to be a tremendous historic achievement and FOF8 will be placed into the GM Games Hall of Fame section for digital eternity.
Come join the discussion about the sell-off on reddit…
