Producer Ben Judd affirms the decision to exclude online sessions in Bionic Commando Rearmed was the right thing, would have been too much trouble.
Admitting he did want online co-op, developer GRIN warned it would be "a huge amount of risk" and so left it alone. He noted "additional pains" wouldn't be worth additional sales.
"As frustrating as all the "no online play = no buy" comments were to read, in hindsight, this was the right choice. After seeing the large amount of headaches, additional production time, and cost that comes with adding online, I'm glad we made the choice not to include it," wrote Judd for Gamasutra.
"Bugs in online play have created a great amount of frustration in other popular digital titles and even have plagued our own titles before. Yes, I understand that your average consumer wants everything they want and they want it for free."
"But, it's a huge balancing act and I'm convinced that the amount of additional sales would not have been equivalent to the additional pains."
"To give GRIN credit, even though I initially put pressure on them to add in online co-op, they gave it to me straight. They knew that adding online would be a huge amount of risk, and as we got into the arduous submission phase, I realized how right they were."
"As a producer, even if the company is an outside developer, you have to know when to listen. This is one time I'm glad I did."
Couch co-op was present in Bionic Commando Rearmed so gunning through levels with your best mucker* by your side was still in the books, you just had to put up with them sitting next to you is all. Despite the lack of online antics the game was received very well by fans and critics.
* British term for friend in the sheep infested West Country of England.
