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Introversion launches Save Multiwinia campaign
Last of the bedroom programmers calls for gamers to publicise indie RTS to stop it from bombing
Calling itself ‘the last of the bedroom programmers,’ many PC gamers in the UK have a soft spot for Surrey’s Introversion Software. Its online strategy game Defcon soon became very popular in 2006 and its single-player RTS Darwinia won similar acclaim. It all looked good when the company announced that it was developing a multiplayer version of Darwinia called Multiwinia, but the game has apparently failed to take off in a big way.
On his blog, Introversion’s lead designer, Chris Delay, started off with the good news, which is that ‘Multiwinia has the highest conversion rate we’ve ever seen,’ meaning that a greater percentage of people who played the demo bought the full game. It all sounds good until he adds that ‘unfortunately, a high percentage of zero is still zero.’
‘Nobody is playing the demo of Multiwinia,’ says Delay, and he reckons that the primary reason is that ‘very few people have heard about it, or have seen enough reason to try it.’ The game was launched last month, but Delay claims that only 20 per cent of the reviews organised with websites and magazines have been published, and that one British games mag has even ‘declined to review Multiwinia at all – ever.’
In case you’re unfamiliar with Darwinia, it’s basically an RTS set inside a computer. The polygonal scenery very much resembles the retro 3D terrain found in old games such as Virus, and it’s also been likened to the film ‘Tron’. You control an army of Darwinians, which are flat little stickmen that carry laser guns and grenades. Visually, it’s a bizarre experience, but it’s still a fun RTS at heart, and it’s great to see something a bit different entering the PC gaming canon.
Delay describes the situation as ‘frustrating,’ explaining that ‘we know Multiwinia is awesome fun to play, and we know if we get people to try the demo they will love it.’ As a response, he’s calling on PC gamers to launch the ‘SAVE MULTIWINIA’ campaign, and he says that Introversion is also working on a mod for the demo that allows demo users to join a LAN game. ‘You all hang around on different internet forums,’ says Delay, ‘go to those forums and strike up conversations about the game. Include screenshots, link to the videos on youtube, link to the demo on our website.
The demo of Multiwinia is now available on Steam, and can also be downloaded from here. The full game currently costs £15. Have you played the Multiwinia demo, and if not, why not? Let us know your thoughts.
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Most games that are graphically superior are shit. Just cos a game looks bloody nice doesn't mean its a good game. those comments that suggest this need lining up and shooting. My god i own the game and play it. Its not bad and at first its quite fun esp against other players. The AI is not perfect by any means but then again you tell me a game were the AI relay is. God some of you should stop sucking on your mummy nipples and get a life or carry on buying your remakes on xbox live and the ps3. Its a sad day when comments like some above come into play. And £15 is nothing compared to many peaces of shit costing £35 to £40 on the shelfs at your local EB. The game was fun to start with in single player but multi player is were it is a good laugh and some times frustrating. Get a life let your balls drop and get off the marketing hype and give it a bash instead of bashing some thing you know f-all about.
Comment by mlwood38 at 12:38am 15th October 2008
Most games that are graphically superior are shit. Just cos a game looks bloody nice doesn't mean its a good game. those comments that suggest this need lining up and shooting. My god i own the game and play it. Its not bad and at first its quite fun esp against other players. The AI is not perfect by any means but then again you tell me a game were the AI relay is. God some of you should stop sucking on your mummy nipples and get a life or carry on buying your remakes on xbox live and the ps3. Its a sad day when comments like some above come into play. And £15 is nothing compared to many peaces of shit costing £35 to £40 on the shelfs at your local EB. The game was fun to start with in single player but multi player is were it is a good laugh and some times frustrating. Get a life let your balls drop and get off the marketing hype and give it a bash instead of bashing some thing you know f-all about.
Comment by mlwood38 at 12:38am 15th October 2008
Ai is the reason I'm not getting it, the AI in Defcon was crap, far too easy to win. Not everyone is into multiplayer, so AI for SP has to be good, if the AI in multiwina is anything like Defcon then i dont want it. Plus its currently $20, about £10+, too much. Cut it's price in half, continue support, might get it then. Saying that, two words, credit crunch, people's disposable income has changed.
Comment by dambuster at 3:36pm 14th October 2008
When Steam first arrived it was quite annoying to get news and game announcement popups, however, the whole system has improved majorly and for those that turned off the feature many moons ago, turn it back on, you are missing a lot of really cool stuff!! Boot up Steam, click SETTINGS button at the bottom, click INTERFACE tab at the top, finally check box NOTIFY ME about additions or changes.
Comment by CSQuake at 2:37pm 14th October 2008
If you have Steam how can you not have heared of it, its posted all over the place, or at least seems to be. It's the game i notice the most. Still not buying it though, not at £15 anyway.
Comment by smiffy at 1:38am 14th October 2008
i noticed it around steam a few times, never bothered to download the demo. i will now. anything to help a small game company. @bscorpion: how can you discriminate against games for nothing more than graphics. the graphics in the game don't even look that bad, they are designed to look un-realistic so it is less noticeable, but it's not like the game is programmed w/ graphics from 1990. disregarding a game because it isn't on the cutting edge of graphics is like thinking a computer sucks because it's housed in a plain looking case (or if you are a bit less nerdy, book by it's cover).
Comment by yougotkicked at 1:20am 14th October 2008
Im sorry... but I didnt build a monster gaming rig to play games that could run on my mobile phone. I understand that it may be fun, I would even go as far to say it looks fun to me. But, unfortunately for them, I am one of these people who demand graphical excellence from a game that costs more than a fiver.
Comment by bscorpion at 12:23am 14th October 2008
I've posted this on Foxystoat.com and that may get at least a couple of people to try it.
Comment by bluetuba at 11:34pm 13th October 2008
Heard of anything even related to it, nevermind its previous versions?!?!?! I think these guys need to get a better marketing team :/ lol Or invest in some outsourced marketing and promotion groups.
Comment by Lightning_Pete at 10:23pm 13th October 2008
If you didn't know, Steam can be downloaded from www.steampowered.com - It is worth downloading and installing Steam purely for the very excellent (and FREE) Trackmania Nations Forever. Then do yourselves a favour and install the Multiwinia demo and see if you like it.
Comment by CSQuake at 10:11pm 13th October 2008
I'm a big fan of all Introversion games. I've bought Multiwinia from Steam at a cost of about £11. I've showed it to my friends, told them how great it is but still none of them have bothered to even try the demo. I'm sorry some mags aren't supporting the game. We hear enough rubbish about the death of PC games so please support a great company.
Comment by RoboRich at 7:00pm 13th October 2008
He's right, I've never heard of it before.
Comment by l3v1ck at 6:38pm 13th October 2008
I think it's a bit expensive at £15 for what is a multiplayer add-on. If it was sold for under a tenner, I think they would probably sell more.
Comment by pbryanw at 5:46pm 13th October 2008
I never liked the single player version, so tbh I cant even be bothered to download and try the demo. Good luck to them mind, but not for me.
Comment by KingDazza at 5:34pm 13th October 2008
Come on guys, help a local company, its even on steam, so why not give it a try??? http://store.steampowered.com/app/1540/
Comment by ohtari at 5:04pm 13th October 2008
ill have a look at the demo, it wont hurt if i do.
Comment by TBallS at 4:41pm 13th October 2008
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