Why Monolith Mattered
Added 2025-02-26 14:15:18 +0000 UTCHey Patrons
I'm back! Last night I saw the news that WB Games has shuttered Monolith Productions.
I've been watching these stories about layoffs and studio shutdowns with sadness and despair. But, man, this one just really hit me. I love so many of Monolith's games and I truly believe they're a really underrated developer.
So I wanted to make a quick GMTK Mini episode to talk about the news and chat about my favourite games from the studio.
Thanks. If you've been affected by the changes in the industry... I'm sorry, and I hope you're doing okay
Mark
Comments
So...? Wouldn't that make it even more strange that they don't exploit the work they have, in your words, theft from their employees, to gain something from it? (Also, if you want to go there, then surely the "theft" is that employers get to own what their employees made. A patent then, as I wrote, just serves to preserve this economic value (to let them keep and outrent their spoils, of you will)).
JR
2025-03-21 20:34:51 +0000 UTCNo, patent is theft. Just another means for the ruling class to accaparate the work of those under them.
ZoidbergForPresident
2025-03-21 18:50:40 +0000 UTCJust an aside in the video, but it's really confusing to me: Patents and licenses don't primarily exist to lock down some piece of tech or other IP, but to preserve the economic value that's gone into them and make it tradeable. So what confuses me about the Nemesis system is that it apparently hasn't been licensed out for use in other games... Yeah, sure, nothing a small indie developer can afford - but a large studio?! There must be something about the mindset of those involved I'm missing here...
JR
2025-03-01 16:09:59 +0000 UTCIm one of the devs impacted by this closure, and as someone who has followed you for a long time and who has SO much love and respect for your work and contributions to this wild industry, seeing this tribute brought a cathartic tear to my eye. β€οΈβπ©Ήβ€οΈβπ©Ή thanks for giving us a shout out and for doing all you do β€οΈ
Lisa Franke
2025-02-27 05:04:42 +0000 UTCOn the positive side, the mini format really does seem to be working towards the stated goal of commenting on news topics while they are still relevant.
Max Goldstein
2025-02-26 21:55:51 +0000 UTCThis one hits close to home. Literally. I live just around the corner from the studio. But also, my best friend in art school got a job there making robots for Shogo. And there was a lot of cross pollination between Monolith and ArenaNet where I worked for 15 years. A year and a half ago I applied to be lead combat designer on their Wonder Woman game. (Which was looking sick, btw) I guess I'm glad I went to Netflix instead, but damn. So many friends just out on their ass out of nowhere. :(
Josh Foreman
2025-02-26 19:41:04 +0000 UTCReally nice tribute, Mark. For what it's worth, I would love to see you dive deeper into NOLF and NOLF 2 if there's ever a way to justify it. They were such outstanding, ambitious games that were ahead of their time, and as you mentioned, I think they go toe-to-toe with any of their contemporaries. Someday we'll get those remasters...
David S
2025-02-26 18:12:54 +0000 UTCCompletely agree, truly underappreciated developer. Only just recently played Condemned and fondly remember all the other games. There's a fan patch online that makes NOLF playable on modern computers but would have loved a remaster or remake. Hope all lay-offs find a new job soon
DEX7ER_M0RGAN
2025-02-26 14:53:29 +0000 UTCSo distressing. This on definitely hit me too. Really mixed messaging and bizarre decision making from WB. And cynically you know these closures are being done before April to bolster Q1 numbers.
Graham Walker
2025-02-26 14:41:25 +0000 UTC
