Rodeo Games was an independent studio specializing in digital adaptations of Warhammer board games. Given the Warhammer license, you would have expected to hear more about the developer but their creations have gone under the radar. Their latest and sadly final title, Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch was originally an iOS game and eventually ported to PC for £18.99. As you might expect, this didn’t go down well, and consumers felt very angry about the idea of paying so much for a basic mobile port. According to a post on Touch Arcade, the company has officially closed due to the poor reception of their latest game. Former staff member, Matthew Spencer said:
“I and the majority of the team left 4 months ago, so afaik there’s no one to offer support or make content. Like most indie developers, you’re only as good as your last game, and even though Deathwatch was Rodeos highest metric game, it didn’t make enough so we had to move on.”
“If you need support, I’ll try and help with what I can, I suggest hitting me up on Twitter, I don’t think the official channels are monitored anymore (I used to do it), I can’t offer any real support because I don’t have access to tools or builds but I might be able to help. Don’t flood me with a billion messages though, I don’t get paid and I do it because I care.”
One user review on Steam sums up the general consensus and reads:
“The game has fine art assets but seriously lacks in features. This was a mobile game and it shows. The fact that this costs over 20€ is absurd.”
It’s a shame to see a British development studio fold and hopefully those affected can find work at another company. Clearly, their business strategy to simply move a mobile game onto PC was flawed, and they didn’t create enough enthusiasm for the game across a wide audience. The current independent scene is extremely competitive which makes it very difficult to become profitable.
