Trilogy Studios is formed

[Everlost_MI]

Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/) is reporting (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6139778.html) the formation of a new development studio called, Trilogy Studios. The company consists of former Electronic Arts executives Rick Giolito and Mark Skaggs and former Vivendi Universal executive vice president Michael Pole. Their first game that's being developed is described as a "first-person shooter/RPG combo" at this point but that could even change as the title is developed.

For those who aren't familiar with what these individuals have accomplished...

Giolito played a key role in building out the Medal of Honor franchise at EA's Los Angeles studio, while Skaggs was part of the core team behind the Command & Conquer franchise first created at Westwood Studios, both before and after that operation was acquired by Electronic Arts. He then went on to lead the award-winning The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth team at EALA.

[Kefkataran]

All I can say for now is that it has potential. Let's see where it goes.

[whoamg]

Are they going to be company-buying game-ruiners?

[The Great Gatsby]

Seeing as how they are a dev studio, probably not.

For now...

[Captain Awesome]

I feel sorry for anyone suckered into working with Mark Skaggs.

[Demo_Boy]

can you say "venture-capital-farmers"?

we are famous! we have great ideas, it will be everygame! money please!

are they blowing more air than Phantom? only time will tell.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

So how long until EA buys them out? :D

[bobbler]

Wait, so... who is actually going to, like, make the games? I see 3 suits and no developers.

[The Iron Weasel]

If skaggs made the original C&C then I don't see a problem.

[EGO]

Hey, maybe some big publisher will come along, sign a project, then crush their teamand cancel their project just to make their bottom line look good, like that f*cker Pole has done to so many in the past.

[exwestwoodguy]

Skaggs didn't touch a C&C game until Red Alert 2. And even then, Vegas still had a lot of veto power. Generals was his first chance from outside of the Westwood umbrella and well....

Skaggs is a tool. I just don't have anything nice to say about him. He is incapable of making decisions (just look at what kind of game he is developing....its a little bit of everything, but he has the right to change his mind later....what?) He's the type of guy that thinks he is being nice when he lets you have a Sunday off of work.

And the fact that Giolito is paired up with him is priceless. Here is the guy that was handed the Medal of Honor franchise after the first PC title's huge success, and then ran it straight into the ground.

I guess boozing it up with the Gamespot editors every E3 paid off for Skaggs with that fluff piece. (I wonder if EA knows how much money Skaggs spent on strippers and booze for those guys to get inflated game review scores.)

[bjornbarspingvinen]

I just love when they say key roles.... the suit made the game, no, I promise....

[mister_slim]

I think this is my favorite newspost of the week.

[TRiLoGY]

NoooooooooooooOOOOOoOOOOOoooooooooo...

[kickmybum]

What a gay name for a studio.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

What a gay name for a studio.


Hmm...

Yeah, you're a moron.

[Royal Fool]

He then went on to lead the award-winning The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth team at EALA.

Ha ha ha ha.

[humbug_developer]

Applause to them for doing thing new. These chaps ain't perfect, but at least they had a clue.

Why don't you call Gamespot, they can write your story and ask you questions about why everyone should give a crap about what you have to say. While you are at it, ask them how many strippers it takes to write something nice about you, even if they didn't think it was true.

Maybe Trilogy can make great games and possibly not. I'm glad someone in biz is trying something new instead of squeezing out sequel after sequel. Be cool and see what the Trilogy does before you take a dump on them.

[The Iron Weasel]

Pacific Assault, was good.

[exwestwoodguy]

Thats my point. They don't have a clue. Mark Skaggs has very little to do with what went right on Red Alert 2 and Generals. If you want to put blind faith in them, be my guest. But to know any of those guys is to hate them. There are plenty of good people in this industry who deserve the attention and support. These are the guys that have spent their careers running teams into the ground.

I worked for the guy long enough to know what a useless individual he is. The rest of the world deserves to know. The truth may hurt but I'm happy to tell it.

If I help one guy from thinking "that place sounds kinda cool, I should apply for a job there" then I'll sleep better at night.

[markskaggs]

Howdy all,

A friend told me about this thread. It's interesting to see the numerous perspectives.

Exwestoodguy - Did you work on Red Alert2 and/or Generals?

I'm open to chatting about the situation if you're available. I'm interested to know which part of team you were on so I can understand where you are coming from with your comments.

Since I still keep in contact with most of the people that directly reported to me on those products, maybe I can also help reconnect you with your manager so you can share your thoughts with them as well.

Feel free to contact me.

Have fun,
Mark Skaggs