| Sigil Games Online | |
| Industry: | Video games |
| Founded: | January 2002 |
| Defunct: | May 15, 2007 |
| Founder: | Brad McQuaid Jeff Butler |
| Hq Location: | Carlsbad, California, United States |
| Products: | |
| Fate: | Acquired by Sony Online Entertainment |
Sigil Games Online, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Carlsbad, California founded in January 2002 by Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler, key development team members who created EverQuest, the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game before World of Warcraft.[1] McQuaid and Butler left Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), the publisher of EverQuest, and formed Sigil Games Online to develop "the next big thing".[2] McQuaid told to the video game website IGN at the time that he was happy to assemble a team of MMORPG developers and to focus on making similar project, as opposed to his work in SOE.[3] Sigil released their only game on January 30, 2007 after several well publicized delays[4] and a last minute switch from publishing with Microsoft[5] to publishing again with SOE.[6] In May 2007, SOE acquired key assets of Sigil Games Online. As a result, SOE now owns Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, described as Sigil's "tent pole property".[7]
See main article: Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. McQuaid and Butler formerly worked for Sony Online Entertainment on the team developing EverQuest. After their departure, they formed Sigil; in May 2002 Sigil reached an exclusive publishing deal with Microsoft[8] and they began work on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. With the pedigree of the "all-star" team at Sigil and the bravado of CEO Brad McQuaid, there were high expectations for the game among MMO fans and the press.[9]
An early marketing fact sheet for Vanguard revealed[10] that the game will be a "vast", "seamless", "immersive" virtual world filled with elements of high fantasy, with cutting-edge graphics technology of its time. It stated that Sigil's expertise and experience in the field will bring groundbreaking static and dynamic content to the genre, and that Vanguard will build upon the successes and strengths of earlier MMORPGs to improve popular game mechanics and features, but also address these pioneering games' mistakes and deficiencies. The sheet stated that Vanguard will focus heavily on interdependence, challenge, and reward, while simultaneously addressing tedious and annoying issues, including camping, excessive downtime and more.
Originally, Sigil worked with Microsoft to co-publish Vanguard[11] but after 4 years, and less than one year before the game's release, the partnership was quickly dissolved. In May 2006 Sigil negotiated a deal to purchase the rights to Vanguard back from Microsoft, and at the same time they arranged a co-publishing deal with Sony Online Entertainment.[12] Vanguard: Saga of Heroes was released on January 30, 2007, co-published by Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment. While initial preview coverage was positive[13] the launch lead to disappointing reviews.[14]
Sigil Games Online had around 150 employees at the time they released their only game, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, on January 30, 2007. The development team continued to address the well-documented technical issues users experienced at launch for several months. Four months later, on May 14, the staff of Sigil Games Online were told to meet in the parking lot at 4:30PM and to take with them what they would need for the rest of the day. The employees were told that the launch of the game had not gone well, the company was in financial trouble and they were selling the company to Sony Online Entertainment. Director of Production, Andy Platter, then told the employees that they were all fired.[15]
The following day, Sony Online Entertainment acquired Sigil's "key assets", stating that they will hire approximately fifty of Sigil's employees and that Brad McQuaid would be consultant to SOE as a creative advisor for Vanguard.[16] Sony Online Entertainment's President John Smedley communicated the announcement to Vanguards playerbase via the game's official forums.[17]