Safecracker (video game)

Safecracker
Developer(s) Daydream Software
Publisher(s) GT Interactive
Platform(s) Mac OS X, Windows
Release May 1997
Genre(s) Graphic adventure

Safecracker is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by Daydream Software and published initially by GT Interactive. It sold 300,000 units by 2001.

Gameplay and plot

The game plays much like Myst, where the player navigates through pre-rendered backgrounds in a first-person view using Quicktime VR in an attempt to solve various puzzles.

As an aspiring head of security development at Crabb & Sons Safe and Security Systems, your goal is to break into and navigate your eccentric employer's sprawling 50-room mansion with the goal of unlocking 35 different hidden safes and stealing their contents undetected, in the process piecing together several codes to unlock one safe that contains your job contract.

Development

The game was initially to be published by Warner Interactive who, after an impressive sales pitch and demo of the game, commissioned it to be made. It was completed in less than a year, and was shown off at E3 1996.[1]

Daydream Software went public in late 1996.[2][3] The company's goal was to increase its economic and decision-making freedom, and to secure the ability to select a publisher at the end of each game's development rather than at the beginning.[3] President Jans Phersson-Broburg argued that self-financing Daydream's future games with money from Swedish investors, instead of obtaining "funding linked to specific projects" from publishers, would offer the developer more stability, flexibility and room for growth.[4] For Daydream's public launch, roughly 20 million kr worth of shares, or 45.5% of the company, were offered to investors in Sweden.[3] The initial public offering was a success,[5] and Daydream opened on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's Stockholm Börsinformation (SBI) list in January 1997.[6] Around the time that Daydream Software launched its initial public offering, Warner Interactive was purchased by GT Interactive.[7]

Distribution and sales

Safecracker was first released in Sweden in mid-May 1997, and sold 18,000 units worldwide in its first two weeks on shelves. By June, it had been released in 15 regions across Europe and South America.[8] Sales reached 22,000 units by the end of September, prior to the game's launch in Australia and North America.[9] However, Jan Phersson-Broberg of Daydream Software later complained that GT Interactive "did not advertise, [and] did not place interviews, reviews" or other press relations material for the game.[7] The developer publicly reported trouble with GT Interactive Europe in late 1997,[10] and questioned the publisher's competence with and interest in the product.[11] Next Generation quoted the team's statement that it was "increasingly frustrated over the lack of marketing and the stalling of a North American release".[10] According to Nigel Papworth, GT had decided behind the scenes to abandon the project, which it considered to be a waste of time commercially.[1]

Daydream initiated a plan to repurchase all rights to Safecracker from GT in September 1997,[7] and it was executed on November 27,[12] thanks to funds from investors on the Swedish stock market.[1] It cost roughly 1.4 million kr to buy back the rights, compared to the approximately 2.2 million kr that Daydream owed GT Interactive for the advance it had initially extended to the developer.[7] The money spent to purchase the title counted toward repayment of this advance,[13] which had previously been set to bankrupt Daydream.[1] The developer forecast in January 1998 that this repayment, combined with its full ownership of the game, would hasten the project's breaking even.[13] In place of the GT Interactive deal, Daydream began working with the employment agency Octagon Entertainment to sign local distribution partners in Asia, Europe, Australia and North America for Safecracker, and to release the game's previously-planned Macintosh version.[11] Around 7,500 unsold copies of Safecracker's original release by GT Interactive had been recalled to storage by Daydream as part of the repurchase deal; the developer proceeded to resell them to new distributors at prices ranging from 80 to 180 kr.[7] The Macintosh version launched in Sweden in December 1997.[13]

By March 1998, Safecracker's display at the Milia festival in Cannes had secured it distribution agreements in nine countries, including Germany, France, Australia and, with publisher PXL Computers, Canada and the United States. According to Daydream, partnering with regional companies that understood each respective market allowed the developer to "spread [its] eggs into more baskets", a strategic move designed to increase the chance of Safecracker's becoming a hit.[14] To relaunch the game in Sweden, the company signed with Ahead Multimedia in June, attracted by that publisher's penetration of unusual storefronts such as post offices and gas stations.[15] The game had already relaunched in certain countries by the end of May; the rest were set for September. At that time, the company's revenue on each unit sold ranged between 30 and 130 kr, based on contractual and market differences.[16] On September 30, Daydream reported that 1.31 million kr remained before the game paid out its development costs, an event forecast for February 1999.[17]

By January 1999, Safecracker's sales had risen to 65,000 units and its revenues to 3.5 million kr. This amounted to a lifetime loss of 500,000 kr.[18] It sold roughly 70,000 units by the end of February, at which point the game had broken even with its development cost. Although Safecracker had become a budget-priced title by this time, Daydream told investors that the revenues for each sale remained "at the same level as when the product was launched and sold as a full-cost product."[19] Conversely, the company noted later in the year that Safecracker's budget status had reduced revenue. The game's sales reached roughly 200,000 units by May 30 and 235,000 by September 30.[20][21] In April 2000, it was re-released in North America by DreamCatcher Interactive; sales in Asian and European markets had already reached 250,000 units.[22] By the end of that May, it had sold roughly 275,000 copies worldwide.[23] The number rose to around 290,000 sales that September,[24] and ultimately reached 300,000 by mid-2001.[25]

Reception and legacy

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PC Gamer (US)75%[26]
PC GamesD[27]

Randy Sluganski of Just Adventure gave a positive review, stating that the graphics were "top notch" and that the difficult puzzles make "you actually feel a sense of accomplishment and pride".[28] On the other hand, IGN wrote a generally negative review of the game, calling it a "generic adventure game" while admitting that the "rather large quantity of the puzzles to be found in Safecracker are nothing short of ingenious."[29]

The game received a spiritual sequel in 2006 called Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Papworth, Nigel (June 5, 2011). "Developer's postmortem: Safecracker". Adventure Classic Gaming. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ Staff. "Daydream – om ett företag före sin tid". Umeå. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Lindstrand, Niclas (December 12, 1996). "Nyemission för Umeåföretag. Daydream får in 20 miljoner. Spelet "Safecracker" mot internationell marknad". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
  4. ↑ Inbjudan till förvärv av aktier i Daydream Software AB (PDF) (Report). Daydream Software. November 26, 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2003.
  5. ↑ Latour, Almar (June 13, 2000). "Back in the Game?". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Inbjudan till förvärv av aktier i Daydream Software AB [publ] (PDF) (Report). Daydream Software. June 6, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2003.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Phersson-Broberg, Jan (March 18, 1998). "Nyhetsbrev mars 1998". Daydream Software. Archived from the original on December 11, 2000.
  8. ↑ Delårsrapport, september 1996 - maj 1997 (Report). Daydream Software. June 23, 1997. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  9. ↑ Bokslutskommunike1996/1997 (Report). Daydream Software. September 30, 1997. Archived from the original on August 19, 2003.
  10. 1 2 Staff (December 2, 1997). "Daydream Buys Back Safecracker". Next Generation. Archived from the original on February 4, 1998.
  11. 1 2 "Safecracker™ KÖPS TILLBAKA" (Press release). Daydream Software. November 27, 1997. Archived from the original on January 7, 2003.
  12. ↑ "Daydream buys back the world rights to Safecracker™" (Press release). Daydream Software. November 27, 1997. Archived from the original on January 17, 2003.
  13. 1 2 3 Delårsrapport september 1997 - november 1997 (Report). Daydream Software. January 15, 1998. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  14. ↑ Halvårsrapport, september 1997 - februari 1998 (Report). Daydream Software. March 30, 1998. Archived from the original on August 19, 2003.
  15. ↑ "Nylansering av Safecracker™ i Sverige" (Press release). Umeå: Daydream Software. June 10, 1998. Archived from the original on November 15, 2002.
  16. ↑ Delårsrapport, september 1997 - maj 1998 (Report). Daydream Software. June 30, 1998. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  17. ↑ BOKSLUTSKOMMUNIKÉ 1997 / 1998 (Report). Daydream Software. September 30, 1998. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  18. ↑ Kommuniké från ordinare bolagsstämma i Daydream Software AB (publ) (Report). Daydream Software. January 15, 1999. Archived from the original on October 19, 2003.
  19. ↑ Halvårsrapport september 98 - februari 99 (PDF) (Report). Daydream Software. March 30, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2003.
  20. ↑ Delårsrapport, september 1998 - maj 1999 (Report). Los Angeles: Daydream Software. June 30, 1999. Archived from the original on August 19, 2003.
  21. ↑ "Bokslutskommuniké 98/99" (Press release). Umeå: Daydream Software. September 30, 1999. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  22. ↑ "Safecracker® lanseras i Nordamerika" (Press release). Umeå: Daydream Software. April 14, 2000. Archived from the original on January 2, 2003.
  23. ↑ Delårsrapport 1 september 1999-31 maj 2000 (PDF) (Report). Daydream Software. June 30, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2003.
  24. ↑ Delårsrapport 1 september 1999-30 september 2000 (PDF) (Report). Daydream Software. October 31, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2003.
  25. ↑ Halvårsrapport, 1 jan - 30 juni 2001 (Report). Daydream Software. July 31, 2001. Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  26. ↑ Novicki, Joseph (November 1998). "Safecracker". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on December 9, 1999.
  27. ↑ Strauch, Joel (November 3, 1998). "Safecracker". PC Games. Archived from the original on November 22, 1999.
  28. ↑ "Safecracker Review", www.justadventure.com, retrieved July 29, 2013
  29. ↑ Steinberg, Scott (May 10, 2000). "Safecracker". IGN. Archived from the original on March 11, 2001.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.