If you haven't heard by now (and honestly, how could you not?), Sigil Games has purchased their Vanguard publishing rights from Microsoft and then elected to use SOE as a "co-publisher".
Now, there's a dozen or more excellent essays on what this actually means (Aggro Me has a great write-up, as always), but the long and the short of it for me is that the SOE logo is on the Sigil website. For myself, I can't help but supress a bit of a giggle.
Why?
Because of the rabid, anti-SOE sentiment we've all been subjected to for the past several years – much of which comes from players who have been looking to Sigil as the ultimate savior from the evil that is SOE. These players would have had us all believe that we're all doomed to an eternal damnation in the worst possible hell imaginable if we continue to support any product that has any monies flowing back upriver to line Smed's pocket.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, as is evidence by this. Gamers are gamers, just as gaming companies are gaming companies. The "fights" are no more real than professional wrestling. The difference is that gamers seem to buy into the presented reality as actual fact, whereas wrestling fans seem to recognize that their favorite sport is not really real (even if they pretend otherwise).
Now, the masks have come off and the final bell has rung on this most recent round, and with the cameras off, it seems that SOE and Sigil have actually been out buying each other post-match drinks all along. Why not? These aren't mortal enemies, regardless of what popular myth would have us believe. These designers aren't running battlelines between San Diego and Carlsbad, running tactical raids on each others' offices.
These are professional game designers. That's what they do. It's a business. It's a fun business, but a business none-the-less. The competition is about bottom lines and market share, and anything that detracts from that isn't in anyone's best interest.
So, if it's in Brad McQuaid's best interest to get back into bed with SOE, even if it's just to cuddle for a while, then that's exactly what these two "mortal enemies" are going to do. Why? Because it's all about the bottom line, and that bottom line means releasing good games within certain guidelines, that can hopefully make a few bucks along the way.
The Kendricke Tracker 