Would uber sell the rights to MNC?

As just about everyone here knows, Uber has moved onto other projects and has been done with Monday Night Combat for years, and Super Monday Night Combat as well.

I might rub some people here the wrong way, but I'm a console gamer. Super Monday Night Combat wasn't my cup of tea, and was too slow paced. The Turbocross didn't seem that much closer to traditional MNC either.

To me, on console, MNC is up towards the top of console shooters with large skill gaps. I've been in contact with the developers throughout the years to talk about it's competitive merit, and whether certain aspects were intentional. Unfortunately none have been able to respond. The point I'm getting at is that this game had such strong competitive shooter potential on console, especially compared to those that were featured competitive shooters. (Name a competitive FPS, I played it. Only games that have more competitive merit are Quake/Unreal, Halo CE, Shadowrun and CS, but some don't even play well on console)


It seems like the future of independent gaming is through kickstarter, and that good games can continue to update through community funding. You can use uber or romino as an example, but a more specific example might be the game Red Sabre which is a tribute to the old school Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six style games, made by those who worked on the originals. Despite the games horrible finish, the idea is still there.


Do you think Uber should sell the rights? Do you think Uber would sell the rights?


I understand the issues with xbox and the difficulty to update, but they did miss the boat on including some simple options with the update. Selling the rights and funding a kick starter might be the only option we have to ever see our beloved games relevant again. I mean I don't know how Super Monday Night Combat is going, or MNC on the PC, but here on console we still continue to host private matches and skill plays, 2-3+ years later.

I know the majority here doesn't give a **** about console gaming, or laugh in the face of competitive console shooters, but that's a whole different argument with each side having a different opinion. However MNC's sales on console were great compared to PC. The game still has a small active group playing public games today. If Uber decided to put all of it's efforts into making Super Monday Night Combat on the next gen consoles, and pushed it as a casual/competitive game being the future of sports, I think they could have really done well for themselves.


Long story short, I love MNC. I want to see more of it. I love the competitive merit of it, and while I understand uber is no longer working on it, I'm also getting annoyed with them telling me they don't have to the time to even talk about it. I just want their red headed step child to move out and find a new loving family.

I don't personally feel that another dev team would do as good a job on MNC as Uber would, in terms of style & art direction.

They wouldn't sell it. I don't know how many times they've called it their baby.

Also, Ekanaut said that if the opportunity presents itself, they want to continue the franchise. That doesn't mean it ever will be rebooted, but it does mean there's still interest.

I honestly doubt the opportunity will present itself.. I don't know how they make these decisions to continuously pump out various arcade games or work on different projects. What type of opportunity do they need?

If uber had put a LAN function in MNC along with a other basic options (switch teams and custom game options) the game would have been featured on MLG, with a few other areas that needed work.

If they were searching for an opportunity, I don't know why they wouldn't go to kickstarter to help finish their current projects?

Look at who worked on MNC and their previous gaming experience. Almost none have worked on shooters whether it was casual or competitive. I doubt we would see anything similar from them in the future.


As far as another dev team, I'm sure there would be ones who can do just as good as a job. If Super Monday Night Combat was more finished. I'd say they could just port the game over using the same company who ported minecraft. I don't remember the name, but they also ported Perfect Dark from N64 onto xbox with online multiplayer.. That's not easy.

I think the problem is that Uber is to small to handle a f2p moba like smnc. To put weekly updates out like they initially planned really must of strained them, not to mention they didn't have much media out there (videos, ads, etc.).

When Uber needs to expand the team and resources before coming back. Once they do that they can work on balance issues, build features outside of gameplay, make a tutorial, make videos, make content, work on making UCC easier, and etc.

The last thing they need to do is to properly relaunch the game and do something to remove the bad reputation. I am not saying change the name or make a new game, but something on the front door to make something better. So far the only idea I have had was "SMNC-SEASON 2". There are not many tricks left on steam to revitalize smnc, but they are out there and if played right can make everything good again.

Ok I admit it, I have been watching too much "Bar Rescue" and have been learning alot from John Taffer.

I don't understand where this whole "Can Uber sell MNC/SMNC to another dev team?" comes from. Is there a new trend happening alongside Crowd funding that I haven't picked up on?

Though I will agree the MNC franchise is better suited for the console crowd.

Why do you say that?

Because that's where the MNC franchise had the most players and made the most money. MNC on PC went nowhere. MNC on console is still one of the popular online games.

I don't understand why you think this is a new trend. I've been trying to get an update on MNC since when? You might even be the only one here who has seen my posts regarding the situation. Crowd funding has been the trend lately and it's apparent there aren't many options for us to see a form of MNC again. Someone send "when the opportunity presents itself" How does that work?

As far as it MNC being better on console, I don't have much to back up my argument on, other than it was designed with console in mind, which is why they changed various things for PC such as sniper rounds, jump jets etc. I can't explain it, but when I look at MNC I feel like I'm looking at a console game, and when I look at SMNC, I feel like I'm looking at a PC game. Looks aside, I think the console crowd enjoys more quick paced shooters than games which could have long battles over map control and leveling up.

If you guys never watched competitive MNC you need to, because it's the best thing to happen on consoles since Shadowrun came out.

I was talking about selling the MNC franchise to another development company. It's been discussed a lot in the SMNC forums and I just don't see where that comes from. MNC/SMNC is unprofitable who is going to want to buy that let alone on the price Uber would need to make a return. There is a reason why almost all game franchises aren't sold that often. It's not profitable for both parties involved.

"When the opportunity presents itself" could mean stuff like their entire staff have finished their respective projects and can all fully focus on the MNC franchise. Or it could mean when maybe an investor comes along and says "here's money. Make MNC 2."

Also MNC wasn't developed for consoles.

Oh, MNC didn't have LAN capabilities? I totally thought it did because that's how I first played it at PAX 2010. Dang, I have a lot to learn

Honestly, I'm not sure anyone would want to buy the IP.

It doesn't make sense considering how many total units sold / how much it would be to buy the rights / the size of the company buying said rights.

I really doubt anyone would be interested and/or do the franchise justice.

Eka and Scathis are probably secretly planning MNC2 release for next gen consoles.

Given their past experience with consoles, I'd imagine it would be a PC release.

When anybody brings up mnc/smnc on the forums, there is a good chance that its depressing.

Their experience on PC has been lackluster as well, both MNC & SMNC.
But the PS4 appears to be very indie friendly. XB1, well, only time will tell with that one.

The main game they're developing at the minute is for PC, and the other two games they've released are mobile/tablet games.

Then ignore where I state it was designed/developed for consoles. To me that's what it seemed, and I can't explain it any more other than by using examples of PC ports onto consoles that feel terrible.

This game was a sleeper game. I understand uber had done it's best at the time and the resources that were available were limited, and yet still produced a fun game. That said, they didn't do well in prioritizing, and I think they completely missed the boat on marketing this game and pushing it. It's not all about maps and classes, it's about creating a user interface that's more appealing, providing us with tons of reasonable options to control custom gameplay. It's the lack of pushing this games high competitive merit, while not doing more to create accessibility for newer players. Hindsight is 20/20 tough, I'm sure Uber would have loved to do more.

I'm not too far from the MLG offices. Throughout my years I've lanned with many employees, some of which were more recognizable in the company. In 2010, we had one of the most influential MLG staff, Nexy, playing. I've talked it over with various people there, and showed them gameplay and analysis, broke down the characters, it's meta, the importance of individual skill along with how much emphasis goes into team chemistry. They were impressed, but due to lack of lan capabilities and options, it was impossible to showcase, and that if those options were added, they would be happy to host a side tournament game showcasing it at an upcoming event.

At that point I PM'd ekanaut about it, and he was absolutely fine with MLG using their game and showcasing it, but unfortunately the game would not be updated any further. (understandable)

I couldn't say any developers interested in taking over the series, but I don't deny that there won't be many interested. Again, the console sales were pretty decent, but could have been way better if Uber had a more polished game. At the time of it's launch, we were at an unusual period of FPS. Arena shooters have died down and become more mindless to play, and MOBAs have been increasing in popularity (at least here in the states). There was an incredible market to be filled here. Halo Reach was considered a failure competitively, and all we get is CoD clones. This could have been a standout game and should have been, considering the theme of MNC is a highly competitive arena deathmatch/moba gameshow. I really think they could have played up it being the future of sports. (and possibly help bridge the gap from sports to E-sports)

That's all in the past though. If E3 came around and Microsoft announced a polished version of SMNC, (uber was secretly working on it the whole time) and stated that at the xbone's launch, and hyped it's competitive merit, I think the console scene would go nuts. Everyone is sick of Call of Duty and it's knock offs when it comes to competitive gaming, even some who compete and make money don't actually enjoy it.

The concept of MNC is something that I feel could have been very profitable if marketed the right way. It's not easy for a developer to see if they haven't gone through the same journey as the community, but much like how I broke it down to adam, I'm sure I could break it down to devs.

And yet no one thinks of Valve when contemplating future consoles..... Not that I have any details, just that I noticed no one mentioning it

*BTW - I have no information about the future of MNC franchise. I love that game. It's what I remember Uber for and still have fond memories.

Well, Valve's console is essentially just a PC. Every game available for it will also be available for PC. Just like a PC, you'll be able to play with either a gamepad or a keyboard/mouse.