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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.

#41
01/20/2011 (7:02 am)
So... I was not an optimistic guy... but a relistic one! :-D

Wellcome back GG... the 99$ is a great plus from the "community approach" view... now for sure we will see new life flowing into T3D, I have always found a pity that so much community members that give us some fantastic resources for TGE cannot afford to jump onboard of T3D caravan... :-P

Now just a question ...

What about the studio licenses? Are Studio licenses still available for purchase??????
#42
01/20/2011 (7:05 am)
Welcome back to the roots everybody :-)

Glad to hear you were able to work it out and get through the dire situation without losing faith and I wish you a great restart into the future without the IA side effects poisoning it!
#43
01/20/2011 (7:06 am)
Great news this morning, I took a look at the site last night and saw it was down, so lets get back to work everyone! ;)

Congrats, I knew torque was too cool to die.

BTW I did not see Torque X on the front page...
#44
01/20/2011 (7:07 am)
GG is back -> wow !!!
#45
01/20/2011 (7:09 am)
Eric I just noticed you are the CEO big freaking congrats man! That is going to rock!
#46
01/20/2011 (7:10 am)
Hi. I've got an old torque2D "without source code" license.
How can I have the source code version?
#47
01/20/2011 (7:11 am)
they have discontinued Torque X according to the blog.

Great to see things getting back to the way they should be.
thanks for all the hard work
#48
01/20/2011 (7:14 am)
Nice new, glad to see GarageGames back on track.

Why Donald's badge isn't dark blue anymore?

And I second the question about studio license. Is it available? If yes, what's the price these days?
#49
01/20/2011 (7:15 am)
Welcome back guys!
#50
01/20/2011 (7:15 am)
Super congrats to GG's return. I was very relieved to read that T2D didn't get cut. :)

Just wondering now what's happening to tdn.garagegames.com. It was working and not working for the past hours and now it's not working at all. :( I was hoping to be still able to browse through the wiki there. It's so super useful.
#51
01/20/2011 (7:16 am)
This is great news. Woke up with a terrible flu, and this made my day. Welcome back guys :D
#52
01/20/2011 (7:16 am)
@ITS_Nick

From the IRC chat

[10:13] <Bonez> what about studio liscense?
[10:14] <[GG]Mich> One license
[10:14] <[GG]Mich> No confusion
#53
01/20/2011 (7:16 am)
what is the new licensing address? licensing@garagegames.com?
#54
01/20/2011 (7:17 am)
Congratulations! Awesome congratulations!

Really, really excited to see how this unfolded in the end:

The $99 price is a surprise gift. I paid the higher price, I don't resent it. Bring it on. More indie devs, more indie games, more awesome.

With gratitude for all the extensive time and effort that went into this, even to the outfits that in the end weren't the ones who bought GarageGames, sincere thanks!
#55
01/20/2011 (7:19 am)
Yes all of us that have it licensed have paid the higher price far as I know, but a bigger community is better than no community.

Glad to see someone picked it up!

#56
01/20/2011 (7:20 am)
This is great news, I waited up late last night for the web updates till I fell asleep.
The new price point should bring new T3D developers which is good news!
#57
01/20/2011 (7:24 am)
Torque Powered is dead, Long live Garage Games!
#58
01/20/2011 (7:24 am)
@Greg Thanks, but... Hm. Studio license could be transfered between individuals, Pro version (that we own) couldn't. There were also some other differences. So if all 3 licenses merged into one, what are the new rules? Clarification would be nice, especially if there is a chance to "upgrade" the license during this discount window.
#59
01/20/2011 (7:31 am)
@ITS_Nick true, an official reply to this question would be nice.
#60
01/20/2011 (7:35 am)
There's really no limit to the awesomeness of all this.

I also love the fact that the new logo doesn't say "By [ANY BODY]"

Garage Games is about independence. Tough to make the felt throughout the community when the former parent company was being flashed in our face all the time.

I loved the old vibe of GG and it's good to feel it again.