Dovetail Games Bought By Focus Entertainment

What's all this I see here?
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/focus-entertainment-acquires-dovetail-games

It appears that Dovetail Games has been sold to a publisher called Focus Entertainment, I wonder what this developement will mean for the future of TSW and TSC?

 

Hopefully it means more investment into DTG? Resulting is better products with extra time spent on them?

 

Publishers of Mudrunner and Snowrunner. That's hopeful, maybe.

 

"senior leadership – including CEO Jon Rissik – will continue to run the company."

 

I think we all knew that something was going on behind the scenes. Now we know why there has been a huge surge in output. The huge rush was to cash in on projects before the profits fell into someone elses pockets. Better end of year accounts commands a higher asking price too.

I do hope they do not change too much.

 

Of course, now Focus is going to want to make its money back....

 

The winds of change are about to be a howling gale...

 

...But will it turn out to be a refreshing spring breeze, or a destructive hurricane? Watch this space

 

Dovetail was bought mainly for the way it makes money as far as I understand and keeping the (top) management confirms this in my opinion.
For this reason, I don´t expect quality improvements coming in regards to the content produced because these will mean less money, thus the new owner will not reach their projected investment recovery.

 

Surprised Dovetail haven't said much themselves, considering it's one of the biggest changes we've seen in, what, a decade?

Focus' own article, for those interested https://www.focus-entmt.com/news/fo...ass-expertise-in-ip-development-in-simulation

 

We will see what happens, but I do not expect any short term changes.

 

Interesting...

As a fan of Snowrunner it would be nice to see collaboration between the teams to get that level of graphics into TSC and TSW.

Wonder if this means the "Dovetail"/"DTG" brand will vanish.

Don't Focus also do the Farming Simulator games? Edit: No, well at least not on their list of current titles.

 

Hopefully this will mean that tsw will be a much better product with less rushed and buggy dlc's but I'm not holding my breath

 

"...As a business we [Dovetail] are ambitious and we believe that Focus’ publishing and distribution power will amplify our own talents as a digital publisher, allowing us to grow in key markets such as North America with access to a wider network of resources and new monetization opportunities."

In b4 someone comes in with the "DTG = Greedy" narrative.

 

Used to, but the Devs now publish it themselves.

 

Looks to me like a hands-off acquisition. So, no, don't expect much in the way of change. As long as the Dovetail subsidiary continues to generate 15 million per annum, Focus will leave them alone.

 

Roger that!

 

This is recent news folks. Best to let someone from Dovetail post something official and we wait for that to have a spirited discussion.

 

Yep you'd normally expect a joint statement from both parties in these kind of announcements

chieflongshin reckon this was a contributor to dtg-protaganist leaving?

 

It was posted on their website - Focus Entertainment acquires the acclaimed UK-based Dovetail Games Group | Dovetail Games

(copying a link from a discord is annoying - edit)

(just pointing out the page nothing more than that )

 

...And here it is https://dovetailgames.com/news/focu...s-the-acclaimed-uk-based-dovetail-games-group

 

A Discord server is not a Website, but a chat room.

But yes, I think londonmidland broke the news on there.

EDIT: Reply was to an older version of the post. I have edited the quote.

 

"Jon Rissik, CEO of Dovetail Games goes on: “From our first meeting with Sean and the talented team at Focus it was clear that we share much in common, most notably a deep-rooted passion for simulation gaming, a commitment to deliver engaging and rewarding experiences for our customers and an underlying set of values that both empower our people and support their career journey. As a business we are ambitious and we believe that Focus’ publishing and distribution power will amplify our own talents as a digital publisher, allowing us to grow in key markets such as North America with access to a wider network of resources and new monetization opportunities. I am extremely proud of the company and strong brands that we have built over the past 14 years and look forward to joining Focus Entertainment’s confederation of entrepreneurs.”"
​

Obviously written in PR-speak by a flack, but one does wonder whether up in the executive suite they actually believe their own BS?

 

https://live.dovetailgames.com/live...ticle/dovetail-games-update-20th-april-2023-3

Just in from DTG Alex on the TSC Discord

 

TL,DR part:

we are making our French Add-ons available for free on Train Simulator Classic and Train Sim World for a week this May. More details will come when they are available to download. This includes:

Train Sim World:

• LGV Méditerranée: Marseille-Avignon Route Add-on

Train Simulator Classic:

• LGV: Marseille – Avignon Route Add-on
• LGV Rhône-Alpes & Méditerranée Route Extension Add-on
• TGV® Réseau and TGV-RDuplex EMU Add-on
• TGV Voyages Train Simulator Add-on

​

 

Not very good news, but then I am quite biased since I seriously dislike game publishers. Expect monetisation to be greedier in the coming months and quality to worsen. I believe Focus have published physical copies of TSW/TS in the past, but I am not impressed by this at all. The only potentially good thing here is that all French DLC will be free, and weirdly the list includes the withdrawn TGV Reseau pack for Train Simulator. I'm not sure if it was a mistake or if it is really coming back, but hopefully if it's coming back there's a patch for it (and hopefully an equivalent one for LGV Rhones-Alpes.

 

BREAKING NEWS
Train Sim World to be renamed shock: On-rails adventure now to be known as Monde du simulateur de train trois

 

They are also making the LGV route in TSW3 free for a week, can't wait to get it!
And i'm not kidding with that.

 

Free routes incoming. Will grab the TSC ones

 

merci monsieur alex, très bien

 

this is huge news i hope this could make the game better and also at long last focus on moving to unreal 5 with this years core update

 

I'm trying to figure out what DTG has to gain by this. Their article makes it sound like good news.

 

I don't get why ue5 always has to be brought up. Dtg have said they aren't going to move to ue5 until other developers all move to it. Also there's over 60 pieces of content that needs to be updated to work with ue5. It's a massive task so expecting them to move to it within a few months is unrealistic.

 

Hopefully this will put an end to the cluster bombing of DLC, so that we see better quality.

Focus run a few titles that have a frequent DLC schedule, and are usually in a good state.

 

Well someone high up has probably gotten themselves a payday, but ultimately I would say this is good news.

 

Considering Ceo Jon Rissik is still in charge, doesn't it not really change anything.

 

Same here. I’m deeply distrustful of these things and in my experience, it’s never good news when a studio is bought. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

 

He’s still in charge of DTG, but he’ll have a new boss at Focus.

 

Why is this good news? Please explain, because I'm still trying to figure out wether this is potentially good or bad for us as customers and fans of the franchise.

 

Does this signal a commitment to building more French routes?

 

Not really. Just that they are a french company for now

 

Corporate drivel with pre-fabricated catch phrases that could come from Walmart if they had a word store.

"... an underlying set of values that both empower our people and support their career journey..."

This kind of büllmerde needs to be read twice ...

 

Lets be honest Focus havent brought DTG for their reputation of quality, they purchased them for the titles, so Im sure the future of TSW and TSC is safe.

Focus will want a return on their investment, and lets be frank quality cant get any worst then it is right now, so things can only remain the same or get better.

My biggest hope is we see more French content in the medium to long term.

 

Personally I think this is good news.

Given DTG’s previous owners/investors and the sole reason for their involvement it certainly can’t be any worse.

Cautiously optimistic.

 

Free DLC? And here I thought DTG didn't know the definition of free

 

No I don't think so! It's not so easy to couple both things together

 

Pretty well known publisher in the "AA" space, putting out games by the likes of Spiders, Frogwares, Saber, and Blackbird.

 

One and only time you'll get free dlc. Unless you win some giveaway

 

Sure it can.