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Welcome Back GarageGames!

by Eric Preisz · 01/20/2011 (4:27 am) · 553 comments






You've been patiently waiting and the time has come. GarageGames is back! We've changed our name back to GarageGames and we are dropping the prices on all products to $99.00 to celebrate our new direction and return to our indie roots. It's been a storied ten years for the GarageGames name and we are looking forward to ushering in the next decade.

The return of GarageGames is much more than a $99 price point. It's a commitment to the community who grew with us over the years. It's a return to the values that brought people together to make great games without the burden of unbearable pricing or royalties. Our community is a diverse group of people who are willing and able to help each other grow as game developers and we can't wait to take that community to the next level. So before I dive into details, let's put some stakes in the ground:

We are committed to delivering you a full source solution without royalties at a price that indies can afford,

We are committed to a better out of the box experience: more intuitive tools focused on design, better tutorials and documentation, and web-site updates that support our most valuable feature…our community,

We are committed to bringing in more talent that can help us execute reliable processes, provide better quality, and set higher standards that exceed your expectation ( btw…we are hiring ).

You will find real evidence of our commitments scattered through this site that we updated late last night. The most obvious is the $99.00 price tag. We believe that this price makes the Torque product line available to everyone with a serious itch to make a game without opening the flood gates for free users who may not be as committed to the same goals as paid developers who rely on our support in the forums. You will notice that we are sun-setting TorqueX and providing refunds to those who pre-ordered iTorque 3D. We know that what we need more than anything is a more focused roadmap and these choices are a difficult, but necessary, step in that direction. You can find more product updates on this blog.

You may be wondering who the new owners are. First off, they are modest, so they asked that I not make them the focus of this blog. I'm guessing; however, that you do want to know that we are in good hands. Trust me...we are. Over the past couple of weeks I talked with dozens of interested parties but none of their values aligned as closely as they do with Graham Software Development. I can't thank them enough for suggesting and supporting the low price-point and the resurgence of the GarageGames brand. These guys are just like us; they are indie developers with the drive and desire to build something that changes the way people make games.

There's a lot for us to do. Setting and achieving a new, higher standard for game development tools won't happen overnight. On top of that challenge, we are switching over to new services ( web hosting, payment processing, etc. ) and moving into a new building (we are staying in Vegas, just moving to a bigger location ). We are also hiring and will be adding new people to the team ( did I mention that we are hiring? ). So you may see a few fresh company faces in the forums. Because of these moving pieces, you may notice the occasional web-site glitch or other disruption. So thanks, in advance, for your patience as we make these changes.

In closing, I can’t thank you enough for sticking with us during this time. The team stayed together through the transition and I can't help but think that your enthusiasm and kind words played a big role in making that happen. We look forward to meeting our new goals so that we can continue to deliver on the promise of bringing royalty free, full-source, game engines to everyone!

So let’s hear it in the comments. It's time to make some noise for GarageGames!

~Eric Preisz
CEO, GarageGames, LLC.

About the author

Manager, Programmer, Author, Professor, Small Business Owner, and Marketer.

#181
01/20/2011 (4:23 pm)
Hi Guys,

I recently bought Torque 2D and iTorque2D products but I can't download it. Can someone ( admins ) take care of this issue? ( I have try to sent an email to support@garagegames.com but it bounce back )

#182
01/20/2011 (4:29 pm)
@ Richard and David

The "shut up and deal with it" wasn't quoting anyone at GG directly, just kind of the vibe I'm getting from what's actually been said.

Something like this won't force me out of the community, I think GG is doing great things for newcomers, but really snubbing the older loyal members of the communities.

Here I am, spending years telling my family, friends, coworkers, and even some complete strangers, "here's a great game engine, you should buy it now!" with total honesty and enthusiasm. Now I feel guilty for trying to get people to buy something that would soon be 90% off. Had any of them actually bought it back then (some might have, I haven't heard back from them all), I'd feel obligated to make it up to them somehow, even though I don't work for GG and wouldn't have benefited at all from them buying Torque.
#183
01/20/2011 (4:35 pm)
@Bulent COSKUN - We are having troubles with our download servers. We are working on getting them back up and running. We will spam all the blogs and threads once we get it back up and running so you can download your products.
#184
01/20/2011 (4:39 pm)
I'm glad you guys are back! :D
#185
01/20/2011 (4:40 pm)
Great to see GG back :)

As a T3D binary owner I'm wondering if the binary owners will continue to see updates moving forward? (Apologies if this has been answered)

$99 is a steal but a source license is not something I need right now or can afford to spend. Soon as I save up I'll get one straight away providing the price remains this way for a while.
#186
01/20/2011 (4:42 pm)
@Shaolin Dave - I definitely understand where you are coming from. It's going to be less than a satisfactory feeling to see something you paid for offered at 10X less than the original cost. I know a few choice words that would be slipping off my tongue if it happened to me, because it has happened before. Totally get it.

No one should be pushing the "shut up and deal with it vibe." We had to kick down the door with this unveiling. The new owners and those of us who stuck around wanted to show we are going back to what caused you and our older members to sign up in the first place. Part of what started it all was a slammin' game engine available at $99. I'm probably just repeating what you already know. I think everyone can see why the new licenses exist.

The goal is not to flood our community for a quick financial pop at the expense of our existing users. If that was the intent, we wouldn't be putting more resources into developers, more time and writers in the docs, and focusing on the products you paid for. I'm glad you can see past what is upsetting and stick around for the great things to come. You won't be disappointed.

I won't down play your discontent
#187
01/20/2011 (4:58 pm)
I never once typed in TorquePowered in my browser to get here. I've always just typed GarageGames anyway and let it redirect :]

t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSW5VnHn1LH0sMTeViBS3Tu-zKfTt4tutEw73ggdfl69YyR2xqG
#188
01/20/2011 (5:07 pm)
I'm with Bryce. Both the statement and the picture.
#189
01/20/2011 (5:07 pm)
Uh, now that you're back to being Garage Games, please tell me you're not going back to having us download everything via WinCVS again...
#190
01/20/2011 (5:10 pm)
@Bryce hahahaha
#191
01/20/2011 (5:11 pm)
Hey, I just purchased T3D and the download link isn't working. Any suggestions as to how I can get my product? Thanks!
#192
01/20/2011 (5:20 pm)
@Bryce, nice pic, says it all :)
#193
01/20/2011 (5:20 pm)
Just bear with us for a moment on the downloads. Something came apart on the downloads some time after the push and we're working to correct it.
#194
01/20/2011 (5:21 pm)
Nevermind, just read forum thread at

http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/123856

Thanks!
#195
01/20/2011 (5:25 pm)
Awesome!!!!!!!!1111111oneoneone

I supported the Beta with my payment, too! ;)

And now i just told my partner to buy TorqueX before it's not available anymore,
for just 99 bugs, yes! I recommend the same to everyone who hasn't got it yet!

@ Bryce: The baby-pic really expresses the feeling!! XDDD
#196
01/20/2011 (5:28 pm)
This is great news, glad to hear GarageGames is back!
#197
01/20/2011 (5:38 pm)
epic return!
#198
01/20/2011 (5:44 pm)
I always did the same as Bryce. Always GarageGames! :-)
#199
01/20/2011 (5:48 pm)
Very exciting, Ive been waiting to hear this for a long time.
#200
01/20/2011 (5:55 pm)
I am glad to see garagegames come back like this and I like the new direction, and the promises about more docs and tutorials, and look forward to seeing this come to fruition. But there is some concern expressed from long time users, which I share somewhat even though I am not bothered too much about the drop to $99.

When Eric came aboard he mentioned a few times about how the focus was going to be on retention over acquisition... meaning looking to do right by existing customers rather than doing everything to grab new customers. I hope this focus hasn't gone by the wayside with the new owners... because surely the new price point is all about acquisition, which I can understand, but it doesn't ease those existing customer concerns.

I thought Shaolin Dave had a great suggestion and I feel it would help the long time users feel appreciated and feel like they haven't been forgotten after they have forked over their cash:

Quote:Customer loyalty should be rewarded. How about some free updates in the future?

+1