Kingdom Hearts III Assets Outsourced to India-based Development Company
- Details
- Published on April 20, 2015 @ 10:58 am
- Written by Arielle
Evidence has been found that shows the India-based game development services studio Lakshya Digital is working on game assets for Kingdom Hearts III. Discovered through the resume page of Praveen Dubey, one of Lakshya Digital's character modeling and texture artist, he lists one of his recent works to be the upcoming Square Enix title.
Lakshya Digital specializes in outsourced work for game development and has worked on numerous titles in the past like Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Dark Souls II, and Tekken 7.
Source: NeoGaf
COMMENTS
Oh okay good lol. I was like... Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Interesting. Seems like KH3 is shaping up to be one massive project. Maybe not as colossal as FFXV, but still pretty huge. I still have hard time picturing how huge the leap will be. We have had KH in the PS2 era technology for a while now. If even half of the stuff what Nomura said in the interviews happens(like the free run system etc..), it is gonna be awesome.
I feel like outsourcing is kind of a norm for the industry now. Plus didn't parts of XIII-2 and Lightning Returns get outsourced as well? Either way, can't help but think this means things will continue going smooth.
Honestly, all this good news as of late has made me think KH just might come out around early/mid 2016, which I was already hoping for but wasn't for sure if that would be the case.
I feel like outsourcing is kind of a norm for the industry now. Plus didn't parts of XIII-2 and Lightning Returns get outsourced as well? Either way, can't help but think this means things will continue going smooth.
Honestly, all this good news as of late has made me think KH just might come out around early/mid 2016, which I was already hoping for but wasn't for sure if that would be the case.
XIII-2 was outsourced to tri-Ace. LRFF had some work outsourced to a Chinese company if I remember correctly.
Outsourcing is definitely the norm for AAA games. For a small company like Square Enix, this has become a necessity if they want to get games out in a timely manner now.
XIII-2 was outsourced to tri-Ace. LRFF had some work outsourced to a Chinese company if I remember correctly.
Outsourcing is definitely the norm for AAA games. For a small company like Square Enix, this has become a necessity if they want to get games out in a timely manner now.
I figured as much. It's rather reassuring to know, to say the least.
Well, if they worked on Ground Zeroes, then I guess we don't have to worry about this.
This probably means more hands to help > more being done at once > slightly sooner launch window. Possibly good quality too, considering the team can focus more on the gameplay and story instead of juggling every aspect at once.
It can go both ways, really. I'll give Assassins Creed as an example: Ubi has tons of studios working on those games. Many people work on those games, yet they've been failing at delivering a decent working game for a couple of entries now. It's easy to lose focus when you have so many people working on something.
Assets probably don't affect things too much, though, and does offer more room to focus on other aspects of the game. Just saying: more people working on something =/= better game.
It can go both ways, really. I'll give Assassins Creed as an example: Ubi has tons of studios working on those games. Many people work on those games, yet they fail to deliver a decent working game every single time. It's easy to lose focus that way.
But that is also because they rush to make a game. They don't take the time to quality check like they should, and that is why they often deliver extremely buggy games.
Square Enix, although they have made buggy games like KH3D, does pay attention to quality assurance.
| Assets probably doesn't affect things too much, though, and does offer more room to focus on other aspects of the game. Just saying: more people working on something =/= better game. |
Of course. That is very true.
Hope they quality check. 3D was nearly flawless but the remixes have had an array of flaws and errors comparable to Easter eggs with how they are still being discovered.
Hope they quality check. 3D was nearly flawless but the remixes have had an array of flaws and errors comparable to Easter eggs with how they are still being discovered.
Nearly flawless? It was the buggiest KH release to date.
1.5 isn't buggy at all. 2.5's bugs are mainly trophy related, but nothing game breaking like KH3D had (except maybe Xemnas)
My experience with 3D was seamless aside from the box being pretty banged up and the cartridge stopped working months after I finished it. I've heard from hearsay 1.5's Winnie the pooh world is broken, but that's it for that game. 2.5 has its own bugs but I haven't noticed any in 2 (was careful not to use limit form too often during xemnas battles), while ds4 support is bad and in bbs I noticed the unversed spawn different colors, it is nigh impossible to hit the top totem pole I neverland as terra and aqua'a FE and SE progress isn't carrying over to her main profile but that probably isn't a glitch.
As for me, the only bugs I noticed in KH3D were "Where's my meow wow?" aka, spirit sinking into the floor.
But as I play for fun and not 100%, I proly didn't notice them XD. Only thing I'm a stickler for is getting the secret ending if I didn't watch it earlier as fansubs or something (as in the FM endings!).
it is nigh impossible to hit the top totem pole I neverland as terra
That was also in the original BBS and isn't a glitch as much as it is the devs didn't have the foresight to remember that Terra is a land based fighter.
| aqua'a FE and SE progress isn't carrying over to her main profile but that probably isn't a glitch. |
That definitely isn't a glitch. You have to get what you need done in her main file before moving on to FE and SE if you want it to all carry over. The only thing that carries over is SE to FE once you finish SE.
Utada's gonna haveta record a really long song for the credits.
Utada's gonna haveta record a really long song for the credits.
More like Shimomura's gonna have to compose a really long song for those second credits. First credits with Utada's song usually just do main crew at Square Enix. Second credits cover the whole shebang.
It can go both ways, really. I'll give Assassins Creed as an example: Ubi has tons of studios working on those games. Many people work on those games, yet they've been failing at delivering a decent working game for a couple of entries now. It's easy to lose focus when you have so many people working on something.
But that is also because they rush to make a game. They don't take the time to quality check like they should, and that is why they often deliver extremely buggy games.
They also, in the case of Assassins Creed III, didn't communicate well within the company. You can read this post by someone who worked on the game.
I'd say it's pretty clear that Square Enix is nothing like Ubisoft. Any "Assassin's Creed" fears should not be projected onto Kingdom Hearts 3.
I kind of find it interesting. In my mindset, "Hey want to help us out with a highly anticipated title?" Of course, I'm not sure if Square-Enix reached out to them or the other way around. Either way, I would feel quite honored, but I only say that as a mere KH fan.
I kind of find it interesting. In my mindset, "Hey want to help us out with a highly anticipated title?" Of course, I'm not sure if Square-Enix reached out to them or the other way around. Either way, I would feel quite honored, but I only say that as a mere KH fan.
Square Enix would have likely chose them from a list of firms that specialize in this kind of work.
Let's be thankful High Voltage haven't gotten their hands on KH3 yet.
Let's be thankful High Voltage haven't gotten their hands on KH3 yet.
AND THEY NEVER WILL.
Lol what's so bad about high voltage, only games I played that they touched were Ben 10 for the ps2 and injustice for the Xbox 360.
Is high voltage infamous for games badly outsourced?
Anyways its just assists. This will hopefully speed up production.
Lol what's so bad about high voltage, only games I played that they touched were Ben 10 for the ps2 and injustice for the Xbox 360.
Companies hire them because they're very cheap. They're cheap because they do an absolutely terrible job on the games. One of the games they did a remaster of had to be taken on by Hexadrive because they released it in an almost broken package. Their most recent work on the Saints Row games on PS4 are glitchy, freezes the entire PS4, and don't look any different to their previous last gen versions.
Oh wow lol
don't they primarily outsource their own projects too?
They also, in the case of Assassins Creed III, didn't communicate well within the company. You can read this post by someone who worked on the game.
I'd say it's pretty clear that Square Enix is nothing like Ubisoft. Any "Assassin's Creed" fears should not be projected onto Kingdom Hearts 3.
Thanks for the link, pretty interesting read!
That is exactly what I was going for, though: communication. Communication gets immensly harder when more people/studios get involved. Both companies need to make sure their internal communication is top-notch, as well as their external communication with eachother.
Not saying Square is anything like Ubi, since they are pretty different companies and there obviously isn't that annual time constraint that AC games have, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of having similar communication problems at all.
Thanks for the link, pretty interesting read!
That is exactly what I was going for, though: communication. Communication gets immensly harder when more people/studios get involved. Both companies need to make sure their internal communication is top-notch, as well as their external communication with eachother.
Not saying Square is anything like Ubi, since they are pretty different companies and there obviously isn't that annual time constraint that AC games have, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of having similar communication problems at all.
With a company like Disney, they would expect nothing but absolutely 100% faithfulness to their products so if there are communication issues between Square and outside companies about the assets needed, Disney would put their foot down.
So...good or bad? I don't know. All I do know is that I have never heard of India being in the KH mix. So hopefully thy don't do anything to screw it up.
If this means that the game will be delivered more quickly while maintaining quality, then this is great news.
My experience with 3D was seamless aside from the box being pretty banged up and the cartridge stopped working months after I finished it. I've heard from hearsay 1.5's Winnie the pooh world is broken, but that's it for that game. 2.5 has its own bugs but I haven't noticed any in 2 (was careful not to use limit form too often during xemnas battles), while ds4 support is bad and in bbs I noticed the unversed spawn different colors, it is nigh impossible to hit the top totem pole I neverland as terra and aqua'a FE and SE progress isn't carrying over to her main profile but that probably isn't a glitch.
I never had a single hiccup while playing 3D. I was actually confused when people said it was a glitchy game. Guess I lucked out or something. With 1.5 the only glitch I find are those small audio cut-outs that happen while loading and then sometimes keep happening until the sound completely drops out and I can fix by turning the TV off and on again. With 2.5, my game froze on me twice for strange reasons. Once in Port Royal when choosing where to sail to really fast, and again in the secret episode of BBS while fighting the Hunter boss. The game didn't actually freeze, but Aqua went to change command styles and then just stayed in that position and never transformed. Sometimes it takes a while, but I waited for several minutes and the change wasn't happening so I had to restart the boss battle.
If they maintain the same product value as they always have, KH3 will have a good chance for the GOTY award. I never had any problems in any KH game. Not even 3D. At least I don't consider the Command Change waiting time to be a bug. It's the same as going in a Drive Form in KH2, it just takes a moment to load. No big deal. PSP's clearly cannot handle that much pressure as mine would heat up completely and take 5 minutes to change. But that's not a bug as it does work properly.
Further I never had any freezing, despawns, weird graphical glitches or anything like that. After a 10 hour gaming sessions I did experience framedrops but that's more the console being exhausted and proof that you shouldn't game for 10 hours in a row <,<
I just hope the community isn't putting the pressure on the game the same way it did for Halo MCC or AC Unity. Those games were simply released way too early.
If they maintain the same product value as they always have, KH3 will have a good chance for the GOTY award.
I never see this happening. Ever.
I never see this happening. Ever.
Same here. That award is usually for western developers only, but its got a good chance of getting a 40/40 famitsu at least!
So...good or bad? I don't know. All I do know is that I have never heard of India being in the KH mix. So hopefully thy don't do anything to screw it up.
It's assets. They are literally just making textures and building environments, at the most. Considering the projects they are linked to, it is safe today they do a fine job at building assets. If SE didn't like what they got, they can just fix it themselves.
So take this as a good thing. That means the dev team can focus on more important things
Companies hire them because they're very cheap. They're cheap because they do an absolutely terrible job on the games. One of the games they did a remaster of had to be taken on by Hexadrive because they released it in an almost broken package. Their most recent work on the Saints Row games on PS4 are glitchy, freezes the entire PS4, and don't look any different to their previous last gen versions.
Ah, so they're sort of like the LJN of the current millennium in other words.
Same here. That award is usually for western developers only, but its got a good chance of getting a 40/40 famitsu at least!
That's probably going to be the case. The game will probably get 40/40 on Famitsu, the GOTY award will going to Call of Duty: Random War 89 and IGN is going to give the remake to Pokemon Generation 4 a 7.8/10 "Too Much [insert overused joke here]."
[spoiler=I can't believe it.]
[/spoiler]
Glad to see SE is getting some assist on production.
I never see this happening. Ever.
It should win quite a few things. I mean, the reaction from it's reveal at E3 2013 was one of the biggest I've ever seen for a video game.
Ah, so they're sort of like the LJN of the current millennium in other words.
I don't know who they are but sure why not.
Double post because I'm so very sorry, children do not copy me (especially since I do the "Old man yells at cloud" rants a lot).
But if you are, for some reason, worried about outsourcing, check out this pretty cool PDF document from Uncharted 3 (if you want the video presentation of this, it's available here), which was outsourced to I believe XPEC? (the same company now working on FFXV). In it, they show you one of the benefits of outsourcing, which is deadlines aren't missed (which is what a lot of people believe about KH3, that the game won't come out for years to come).
While their developed games section looks rough, their art centre website shows they seemed to have worked on Killzone Shadow Fall, Ryse, Knack, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider 2013, and Hitman Absolution all of which the assets looked pretty good in-game.
I don't know much about Lakshya Digital. I've played Metal Gear Solid V and that game looked pretty great so I have faith. And I have faith in Square Enix and Disney for their choice, and for choosing the best models and texture to include in the game.
Seeing how major releases so far are either bugged to the core at launch (ACU) or remakes (GTA5PC) there's a pretty big chance KH3 will win things. But for now that is of course depending on other future released games. We'll see at the E3 what awaits us
But beside that award stuff, I've looked through several reviews of Lakshya and they're both brutally honest and positive at the same time. The things that stand out to me are that the working pressure is immense in that company, which can be both good and bad depending on the people. And that the management is horrible there. The people working there however are very good and skilled individuals. Guess the management is a cultural thing? None of my business either way. And I'm certain a company like Disney and SE will be looking over every detail in the end to make sure there are no accidental mistakes that could bring the age classification up.
Seeing how major releases so far are either bugged to the core at launch (ACU) or remakes (GTA5PC) there's a pretty big chance KH3 will win things. But for now that is of course depending on other future released games. We'll see at the E3 what awaits us
But beside that award stuff, I've looked through several reviews of Lakshya and they're both brutally honest and positive at the same time. The things that stand out to me are that the working pressure is immense in that company, which can be both good and bad depending on the people. And that the management is horrible there. The people working there however are very good and skilled individuals. Guess the management is a cultural thing? None of my business either way. And I'm certain a company like Disney and SE will be looking over every detail in the end to make sure there are no accidental mistakes that could bring the age classification up.
Management is crap no matter where you go. Game development companies and firms are terrible because grunt staff aren't valued and will be hired and fired as they are needed. This is how it is in this industry.
If SE or Disney doesn't like something's they see, they can order it to be fixed or just fix it themselves.
What does age classification have to do with making textures and stuff?
If SE or Disney doesn't like something's they see, they can order it to be fixed or just fix it themselves.
Exactly. They have to agree upon the design and if it's not up to their standards then they will just tell them what to change.
Sad but true. Companies make it seem like it's all fun good to work for them, but in reality it's more the opposite. And nobody can do anything about it because you can be replaced. That's how the world is.
It might be annoying the way Disney and SE have managed that agreement, but it works if you ask me. Better be safe than sorry. Who cares if it takes a few more months for the game to be released if the final product is good as flawless?
What does age classification have to do with making textures and stuff?
Certain designs like clothing could be a problem. Though in japan they're not that strict about it, the EU and US versions would need to be censored in the same fashion BBS had a slight censor on Aqua. I believe Disney is more of those regulations than SE though
Certain designs like clothing could be a problem. Though in japan they're not that strict about it, the EU and US versions would need to be censored in the same fashion BBS had a slight censor on Aqua. I believe Disney is more of those regulations than SE though
What? They aren't designing anything. That is all done by the main staff in Japan.
Aqua wasn't censored. Her design has always been the same since her inception. That bare back thing seemed to have been an experiment but her outfit made no sense backless. It was in one trailer for two seconds.
Oracle Spockanort
April 20, 2015 @ 03:44 pmOffline