Project M is no more

[Jedi]

http://projectmgame.com/

And with that, Project M has come to a close.

Hello friends,

Six years ago, we started a journey born out of our shared love for competitive fighting games. Eventually, the electrifying passion that coursed through us arced out and drew in more people until our small circle of friends grew into a team, and that team grew into an international community. Project M and its community have grown larger than any of us ever anticipated, and it’s truly heartwarming to see all of the unforgettable connections and friendships that have been forged through this project.

Unfortunately, we’re here to say that we’re at the end of that road.

We’ve learned so much in the process of making Project M—accumulating life-changing lessons in communication, team work, professionalism, work ethic, and more—but there’s only so far we can take those skills in a volunteer project. With this in mind, we’ve made a difficult business decision: We’re ready to finish development here and move on to bigger and better ventures.

We realize that this will come as a shock to many of our fans. Please, forgive us. Again, it’s been an excruciating call to make, but it’s been made a bit easier by our satisfaction with the previous and final release, v3.6. We’ve spent six years polishing Project M, and rather than let it drag on through another several years of dwindling development and change-fatigue in the competitive circle, we’re going to consider our work complete.

In the mean time, we plan to be hard at work on new projects, built from the ground up. We can’t spill the beans just yet, but know that we’re looking towards a fresh start with brand new designs. Rather than splitting our focus, many of us want to dedicate ourselves to this new venture fully. In this way, we hope to maintain the level of quality and professionalism you’ve come to expect from us.

In summary, we are ceasing development of Project M (effective immediately) and will be making no further releases as we turn our attention towards an entirely new venture. As the PMDev team will be formally disbanded, please forward all official communications regarding Project M to video game attorney and business consultant . We appreciate your support and your understanding.

One final time,

PMDev

Thank you for playing!

Edited December 2, 2015 by Jedi

[dondon151]

smells like nintendo

[MrStardustRicon]

Shame we'll never get to see those leaked characters finalized but oh well, RIP.

[Radiant head]

Smash fans I know are going to be really upset.

[Tryhard]

Linking their attorney at the end, one that supposedly emphasizes their expertise in copyright and C&D cases among others on their website, leads me to believe that it is likely a legal issue.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Tryhard

[Batter the Beast]

There's a lot I want to say on the topic but drama is stupid lol. Plus, there's not much we can do about it. I'll still be playing PM for years to come so I'd say they did a good job.

[Junkhead]

Eh, it's not like they haven't been doing a great job. And it's not like we still can't play the game. It's great, I've always liked what they did.

There's a lot I want to say on the topic but drama is stupid lol. Plus, there's not much we can do about it. I'll still be playing PM for years to come so I'd say they did a good job.

Say it, please! ;u;

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Haven't played it.

Seems to be that I missed sth... again...

Edited December 2, 2015 by Mister IceTeaPeach

[euklyd]

There are a lot of rumors floating around that it has to do with the Wavedash Games project some of the PMDT founded.

It's definitely likely that the project they speak of in the blogpost - the one that a lot of them are switching to - is whatever they've got going on at Wavedash Games. It's just uncertain how much the shuttering is connected to that.

I've been reading some stuff but there's no proof yet; hit me up on PMs / Skype if you want details I guess.

[Refa]

Eh, it's not like they haven't been doing a great job. And it's not like we still can't play the game. It's great, I've always liked what they did.

If I'm not mistaken, you can't download the game on their site anymore. So uh...yeah, a lot of people won't still be able to play the game anymore (at least until some unscrupulous individuals get to uploading it elsewhere and assuming that doesn't get taken down).

Edited December 2, 2015 by Refa

[euklyd]

If I'm not mistaken, you can't download the game on their site anymore. So uh...yeah, a lot of people won't still be able to play the game anymore (at least until some unscrupulous individuals get to uploading it elsewhere and assuming that doesn't get taken down).

there are archives; the /r/smashbros and (apparently) /r/ssbpm threads already have links

e: https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/3v3ipo/project_m_has_ceased_development/

Edited December 2, 2015 by Euklyd

[Crusticus]

The game will never be purged off of the internet or thousands of SD cards. PM having updates might be gone (rip the Lyn dream) but the community is the heart of the game. PM can still prove itself, even if the PMDT had to jump ship and it will return to grassroots until Nintendo stops caring again, but you know what? Melee hasn't had active patches for 13 years, alongside having ups and downs throughout the years community-wise, and look at it now. Hell, the whole professional eSports side of general competitive smash is still relatively new.

I'm not saying PM will stand up to Melee ever again, but you know what? The future is uncertain, and the game is at least in a playable and balanced state. If anything, the meta will grow even further now that constant updates are gone and characters will remain as-is for presumably forever. That is, if people still want to develop the meta. Like I said, and I'll reiterate this as much as I can: nobody knows what's in store for PM.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Theguru1020

[Knife]

Probably for the best. Not gonna deny the developers were kinda good at stuff. Now they can focus on something that isn't just a worse Melee. I liked the texture and music hacks they did in Brawl. Kinda have a love/hate relationship with it since it helped kill Brawl earlier, but I guess it did give people something to play while MK was raping every other character in Brawl.

[DeadGame]

This only means the modders closed developement on the project, as long as people still play the mod, it'll be alive.

From a certain perspective, however, this might even be a positive thing, as players will no longer need to adapt to new changes and can fully establish a meta.

Basicly, it's a bittersweet announcement, and I personally welcome it.

PM is and always will be a better Melee in my eyes, plus it's the the key to modding heaven.

(Oh, I just remembered that we won't ever see the "Dweeb-Philanderer-Awakening DLC-Roy" now, which makes me happy.)

Edited December 2, 2015 by Ragnar

[solrocknroll]

As someone who dislikes PM and much prefers Brawl, I will say that they certainly worked hard.

While I don't think that the end of PM is a good thing because that would be selfish, I do wonder if the community will flock back to Melee or move on to SSB4

ssb4 has shulk, lucas, dark pit, and villager so move there please

[The DanMan]

Probably for the best. Not gonna deny the developers were kinda good at stuff. Now they can focus on something that isn't just a worse Melee. I liked the texture and music hacks they did in Brawl. Kinda have a love/hate relationship with it since it helped kill Brawl earlier, but I guess it did give people something to play while MK was raping every other character in Brawl.

Umm, you mean a "Better Melee"?

Or if we want to get down to it, PM largely became its own thing. Yes, the initial core design philosophy was "make Brawl like Melee", but they still took stuff from 64 and Brawl.

The game grew to have its own separate identity; it was much more balanced than Melee, had an more conventional fighting-game feel, yet also stressed counter-picks and had extras for casual play (All-Star VS, Turbo Mode).

(Oh, I just remembered that we won't ever see the "Dweeb-Philanderer-Awakening DLC-Roy" now, which makes me happy.)

Speak for yourself. I really liked Roy's Awakening DLC design (and had my eyes locked on the Isaac leaks).

Edited December 2, 2015 by The DanMan

[solrocknroll]

Yeah I love Roy's Awakening design but considering his location it's best to not argue with someone thinking so backwardly

also yeah I totally wanted Sami the dream is dead

[Ragnell]

I'm seriously bummed about this. I haven't played PM much recently since I was waiting for the inevitable Knuckles/Lyn/Isaac update to drop. I don't even think I ever got 3.6. Now I'm super disappointed we'll never got to experience the fruits of the devs' hard work. Here's hoping someone leaks what they had made already, so that somebody else can finish the job.

Also, warchamp7 has insisted that no legal action or threats were moved against them, and that no one on the team is working for Wavedash. He basically confirmed this was a preemptive move to dodge future legal concerns. The only thing he hasn't said is why this happened so suddenly when just two weeks ago they were sharing art for the new update. And from the sounds of it, we might not ever know.

[Raven]

Also, warchamp7 has insisted that no legal action or threats were moved against them, and that no one on the team is working for Wavedash. He basically confirmed this was a preemptive move to dodge future legal concerns. The only thing he hasn't said is why this happened so suddenly when just two weeks ago they were sharing art for the new update. And from the sounds of it, we might not ever know.

I'd like to see this artwork for what would have been the next update so I can become just as disappointed as others are about this.

[Serpent of Sheol]

I have relatively mixed feelings to this. I'm upset that PM ceased development (although the reasons for them stopping were justified, from what I'm reading in this thread). I'm also excited because as a couple of people mentioned on reddit, PM can have a settled meta now since the current build is now the final build.

[Tryhard]

Also, warchamp7 has insisted that no legal action or threats were moved against them, and that no one on the team is working for Wavedash. He basically confirmed this was a preemptive move to dodge future legal concerns. The only thing he hasn't said is why this happened so suddenly when just two weeks ago they were sharing art for the new update. And from the sounds of it, we might not ever know.

I'm not really sure enough to make any assumptions, but it's really weird to just up and leave with no prior information and 'not being able to say any more'. Kind of leads me to believe that warchamp can't discuss the actual reason for it.

[The DanMan]

I'm seriously bummed about this. I haven't played PM much recently since I was waiting for the inevitable Knuckles/Lyn/Isaac update to drop. I don't even think I ever got 3.6. Now I'm super disappointed we'll never got to experience the fruits of the devs' hard work. Here's hoping someone leaks what they had made already, so that somebody else can finish the job.

Also, warchamp7 has insisted that no legal action or threats were moved against them, and that no one on the team is working for Wavedash. He basically confirmed this was a preemptive move to dodge future legal concerns. The only thing he hasn't said is why this happened so suddenly when just two weeks ago they were sharing art for the new update. And from the sounds of it, we might not ever know.

Loathe as I am to do so, I'm going to be tuning in to the next Japan Time episode to see if Warchamp says anything else.

Edited December 2, 2015 by The DanMan

[Comet]

Umm, you mean a "Better Melee"?

Or if we want to get down to it, PM largely became its own thing. Yes, the initial core design philosophy was "make Brawl like Melee", but they still took stuff from 64 and Brawl.

The game grew to have its own separate identity; it was much more balanced than Melee, had an more conventional fighting-game feel, yet also stressed counter-picks and had extras for casual play (All-Star VS, Turbo Mode).

Speak for yourself. I really liked Roy's Awakening DLC design (and had my eyes locked on the Isaac leaks).

melee is actually more deep than PM. not even a matter of opinion, brawl's engine messes up stuff from melee and doesn't have as much to it. think what you will though, but what i said is all that matters to me.

game preferences aside, this is sad to see. i also wished we could see lyn and knuckles one day.

[euklyd]

I'd like to see this artwork for what would have been the next update so I can become just as disappointed as others are about this.

lemme give you one better: dev build was leaked

- knuckles, isaac, lyn playable

--- isaac and lyn very incomplete, lyn's alts crash the game (knuckles only missing FS & sounds)

- has some of models / PM art tuesdays stuff (awakening roy, headband puff), but not all

- has other stuff that I don't remember

Also, warchamp7 has insisted that no legal action or threats were moved against them, and that no one on the team is working for Wavedash. He basically confirmed this was a preemptive move to dodge future legal concerns. The only thing he hasn't said is why this happened so suddenly when just two weeks ago they were sharing art for the new update. And from the sounds of it, we might not ever know.

Linking where this was said, for the record, since I was wrong on this. Warchamp said it here. [imgur mirror]

further stuff:

- parts of the PMDT were purged soon before this officially happened (and so weren't told anything), and even some of the not purged people don't know the full reasoning

- ama with former dev here

- splinter sub here

- "47" meant literally nothing

[spoiler=unsubstantiated but this is makes sense to me as a reason]

[solrocknroll]

lol no Sami

they made knuckles the echidna to completion but not Sami

I guess now I can stop caring.