SI announce 'adoption' of OOTP

[Marc Vaughan]

Taken from sigames.com:

" Wednesday 5th May, 2004 - Sports Interactive, the longstanding leader in the field of football management computer games, has announced a deal with the leading independent development studio, Out of the Park Developments, in a move which will see baseball become the latest sport added to the award-winning developer's roster. The agreement will also see the Out of the Park Baseball development team amalgamated into Sports Interactive.

Led by Markus Heinsohn, Out of the Park Developments have been making games since 1997. Originally based in Stade, Germany, the team now includes members from across the globe. The team has produced six versions of its highly acclaimed baseball management simulation, Out of the Park Baseball, with the fifth incarnation nominated as Best Computer Sports Game at last year's prestigious Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards ceremony. Out of the Park Baseball 5 is also the highest-rated baseball management simulation available, according to the influential Game Rankings website ( www.gamerankings.com).

"Over the past couple of years we have carefully monitored and nurtured the best independent game development talent working on sports management simulations; a process which has already led to the successful integration of the Eastside Hockey team into our own," says Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. "We have been in discussion with Markus and his team for quite a while and feel that now is the perfect time for us to begin working together. We believe that our management simulation expertise will help the Out of the Park team to achieve its undoubted potential, while their knowledge and experience of baseball will allow us to expand our reach into one of the world's largest and most important markets."

"While Sports Interactive has traditionally concentrated on football, its games have always represented the state-of-the-art to those of us trying to simulate management of other sports," adds Markus Heinsohn. "We are delighted to join forces and look forward to working with some of the best in the business to produce the most realistic, entertaining and compelling baseball management game possible."

As part of the new deal, Markus has moved to the UK and is now based at Sports Interactive's offices in Islington.

Out of the Park Baseball 6 (released independently by Out of the Park Developments) offers the ultimate in realism, playability and unparalleled customisation, placing the player in a virtual baseball world of his or her own making. This virtual world can be populated using players of the past (via a direct link with the Baseball Archive), the present, or, for the ultimate challenge, purely fictional players created by the game's Artificial Intelligence. Virtual managers can build their own dynasty by signing free agents, wheeling and dealing with other owners or by calling up hot prospects from the Minors. A multitude of play options are available, including single-player and multiplayer via the Internet. A demo of the game is available for free download from www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp, while the full game is available to buy from the same site, priced at $34.95.

Other games from Out of the Park Developments have included Inside The Park Baseball (a unique role-playing game which sees the user take the part of a professional baseball player), Title Bout Championship Boxing and Title Bout Boxing Quiz. Further information on Out of the Park Developments and all of its games is available from the company's website, at www.ootpdevelopments.com. No decision has yet been made on whether Sports Interactive and the Out of the Park Developments team are to work together on these other projects.

Sports Interactive and Markus are aiming to release their first jointly-produced version of Out of the Park Baseball in late 2005.



Visit : www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp"

Summary - same thing as with Riz, its Markus's game - he retains full control of it sdevelopment (he's already going a great job with it - we just want to help him make it better by providing him with all of our resources and experience).

Have Fun,

Marc

[Ben E Lou]

It's announces!!!




#%*&#%^ Brits...

[Treches]

This is very good news, indeed. However, I truly hope this doesn't mean that OOTP is to lose its online capabilities and thus concentrate on solo play.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally posted by Treches
This is very good news, indeed. However, I truly hope this doesn't mean that OOTP is to lose its online capabilities and thus concentrate on solo play.

Don't worry about this

[Craig Scarborough]

Congrats to both Markus and sigames! Sigames has picked up a great programmer while Markus has gained access to a very professional outfit. I look forward to seeing (and playing) where OOTP goes in the future. It should be a wild ride .

-Craig

[Deitrus]

Wow. This is stunning news.

Now all we need is a pro football (American) sim.

[jnshmoo]

Originally posted by Treches
This is very good news, indeed. However, I truly hope this doesn't mean that OOTP is to lose its online capabilities and thus concentrate on solo play.

Just like Markus said, don't worry about it. The Championship Manager series has had a form of 'multiplayer' for some time now as well. It just isn't implemented in quite the same way.

Joe

[andjbock]

I'm not familiar with CM does anyone know any immediate benefits that that series has that OOTP currenlty does not include?

[Steve Kuffrey]

News and player personality/interaction are 2nd to none.

[Mike D]

I don't know if I like this. As it stands now, SI games are only available for purchase on CD. They do not have DL's available, and as much as I love Markus and trust in the game that he puts out, to wait until the end of 2005 for another OOTP title is quite a wait, and as much as I love the current edition, I don't know if it will hold me over until the offseason of next season.

[Skipaway]

So we are going to see those moving dots in OOTP7 then?

[JeffR]

Originally posted by Mike D
I don't know if I like this. As it stands now, SI games are only available for purchase on CD. They do not have DL's available

Actually, I purchased CM0102 via download. SI has experimented with it before, and having added OOTP's experience in that area, I'd imagine they'll give it a shot again in the future.

[Mike D]

Yes, but I remember reading somewhere that Football Manager will only be available on CD. But, I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time today.

[Neil Dejyothin]

Originally posted by Mike D
I don't know if I like this. As it stands now, SI games are only available for purchase on CD. They do not have DL's available, and as much as I love Markus and trust in the game that he puts out, to wait until the end of 2005 for another OOTP title is quite a wait, and as much as I love the current edition, I don't know if it will hold me over until the offseason of next season.

It is a little too early to begin speculating how distribution will be handled but purchasing games over the internet has been something that has always interested us.

[Cooleyvol]

"The first version of the SI version of Out of the Park Baseball in scheduled for a late 2005 release."


This is the only part of this that worries me--will new versions not be out in Spring each year now?

[Maverick]

I'm a bit sceptical, wasn't this tried with .400 software?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally posted by Maverick
I'm a bit sceptical, wasn't this tried with .400 software?

I watched the .400 story unfold with interest but was obviously not involved in it at all.

All I can say to reassure people is that its still Markus's game and that we've taken this route in the past with Riz and EHM:FE and its worked out really well (fruits of that collaboration will be very visible shortly ).

SI aren't a huge company, we concentrate on making the best games possible and thats the most important thing imho.

We aren't planning on expanding any further in the short-term for just this reason, I want to ensure that each and evey game that we've involved in is the best game possible.

Hope this helps,

Marc

[fantom1979]

Originally posted by Cooleyvol
"The first version of the SI version of Out of the Park Baseball in scheduled for a late 2005 release."


This is the only part of this that worries me--will new versions not be out in Spring each year now?

i am rather curious about this as well. 15 + months is a long time to wait for another OOTP game

[rangers85]

The thing is, with this partnership, I'm very curious to see what of CM Markus might add. There's a lot of stuff there that would interest me greatly in OOTP having played both games. If it means we have to wait a bit longer for OOTP7 to be released, it'll be well worth the way if Markus is able to implement even some of that.

[Signore Franco]

Nice to hear this, I am looking forward to this game