So let's take this thread seriously for a few moments. We know that Take Two, per IGN, is looking to offload the IP and shelve the studio. So what would it actually take for someone - or, more likely, some group - to take control of the IP?
For starters, a boatload of money. If we semi-use the figures we were given from Shadowzone's video, we're looking at no less than $17.5 million every year for, we'll say, 4 years of development alone. To recoup that cost alone, Take Two would need to get $70 million. That's just to recoup development costs for KSP2. And then they have to take into account future sales of KSP1...which, admittedly, probably aren't going to be all that much. Most people who want it already have it, and it goes on sale enough on Steam that getting additional cash there isn't going to be much. But Take Two, being a company, will want some compensation for that. Once we get beyond the cost of recouping development, Take Two isn't going to part with what is a decently popular game - albeit in a niche genre - for nothing. They are going to want to be enticed to get rid of the IP, so the group will need to come up with probably - and this is a major spitball here - another $10-30 million dollars. Someone here in this thread already mentioned $100 million to purchase the IP, so we can easily go with that number and feel like we'd at least be in the ballpark to start negotiations.
Now let's say we've got the cash and the negotiations went well, and some entity ends up with being able to purchase the IP. Now come some of the sticky parts of the contract just to purchase it. This cannot be a "community" purchase; the contract will need to specify at a minimum the name of the entity purchasing the IP, along with the senior investors (those people who put up the most cash individually). And that's just the contract to purchase; the entity has to be set up legally, with all investors, its own board, president, ceo, etc., named explicitly in its own legal documents. This alone means that it can't simply be a community project with anyone able to do anything with it. You'll need to know who exactly the employees/members of the new entity are, and only they will have the access to the code and such. And then they get to decide what happens with the IP once they own it.
So let's say we get beyond setting up the entity, naming the investors (of course, in this scenario, I'm one of the higher-ups because, well, I'm writing this little diatribe), generating the capital needed, and the purchase goes through. What now? Well, we need to do all the things associated with creating a development studio, which involves:
Finding and either purchasing or leasing a suitable building. Even in this era of remote-work possibilities, a central building for employees to work at and collaborate is the best way to go
Finding suitable employees
And paying them appropriately
Acquiring the right equipment
Notice I said the right equipment. Anyone can walk into Best Buy or Fry's or wherever-else and buy a computer. But to develop an actual game you need state-of-the-current-art development machines, as well as lower-end testing rigs. You also need desks, printers, network equipment, modems, internet...all the things that people I think take for granted that they have in their houses but aren't aware are needed on a much larger scale for a business. Cables, cords, lights, building expenses to include maintenance. This all costs money.
I am quite sure there is more to it than that; I'm not a business-setter-upper kind of guy, so I'm guessing at the bare minimum here. And as I said, this all costs money. Take Two gave Intercept Games a budget of $10 million per year, and that number was way low. We're looking at twice that at minimum, and then throw in a contingency fund just to make sure, and we are at $25 million per year for development. Given a 4 year time frame, that's another $100 million. We're almost a quarter-billion into this, and not one line of code has been written. Which brings me to...
...scope of the project. So many different ways this can go, but project meetings have to happen to nail down a definitive scope for what the next iteration of KSP will look like. Considering I've installed myself as one of the higher-ups in this project (again, I'm writing this fantasy, so I'll live in it however I want), the scope would end up something like:
Reskin KSP1. Update graphics, fix known bugs, and include the most popular mods as part of stock. There are 3 kinds of mods available:
Mechanical. MechJeb and KER, to name a couple.
Parts. Near Future, Tantares, Restock+. The Community Tech Tree might fit in here. KIS/KAS. Maybe Un Kerballed Start.
Graphical. Parallax, EVE. Things that make things look nice.
Once KSP1 is reskinned it gets pushed out as KSP2.5. KSP2 is removed from Steam and Epic, and KSP2.5 is added. Anyone who purchased KSP2 and didn't refund - that is, they still have it in their library on either Steam or Epic - gets KSP2.5 at a serious discount. Anyone who doesn't have it, can purchase it at full price (don't ask me what that is; I'm not sure what the appropriate amount would be, and that would be up to accounting to determine).
A second development team is already hard at work on what I'd call Kerbal Space Program: Beyond. This includes everything in KSP2.5, but adds:
New resources. ISRU and resource management is part of KSP2.5, but now we need new types of fuels and other resources.
Colonies. Creating both ground and orbital, as well as being able to have extra-Kerbinular VAB's and launchpads.
Interstellar. With more than just a singular extra-Kerbolar system out there. This would have to take advantage of both Near Future parts AND additional parts to help with the long journeys between star systems.
An updated "science" collection mode. I'm on record as stating we should toss science points almost entirely out the window, focusing instead on achievements and milestones (such as first launch, getting to orbit, etc.). More of an Achievement Tree than a Science Points tree. How this functions, again, I don't know. People far smarter than me I'm sure could figure this out.
Better missions. And more of them. And a random mission generation system that draws on what we learned with the contracts thing from KSP1, but in a better way.
As mentioned under #3, more parts. Better parts. And more of them being procedural. I'm looking directly at fuel tanks here, but I'm sure there are other parts that could be procedural that I am not thinking of.
Joystick/HOTAS support. Come on, man; how can you not have this already? I prefer the keyboard/mouse combo, but I'm one guy. And I fully appreciate that some people can't use that combo for whatever reason, so let's make the controls easier for people.
Notice I didn't say anything about multiplayer or consoles up there. Multiplayer is scrapped entirely, and will never see the light of day. There are just too many issues with multiplayer in this kind of game. Time Warp alone causes issues, and because a small portion of the community wants this (and by small, I mean as compared to the totality of the community), it's not worth the effort. I know there are people that want this, and I'd love to give it to you. But for now, there are just too many problems with it. Consoles, on the other hand, are a special kind of hell that needs more support than can be given currently. The game will eventually come to consoles, but I'm not sure when. Better to just say "We know you want it on consoles, but for now we cannot promise that will happen. We will work to see if it's possible, but please don't get your hopes up". Or something like that.
We are talking about no less than 4 years of development, plus however long it takes to get negotiations done and the studio set up. Minimum total of 5-6 years. MINIMUM. That's before you see your first sale on KSP:B. Quarter billion in the hole, 6 years out. Dang, that's a lot of money and a long time. Are there things I'm missing? I'm sure of it. Do those things complicate this exercise, or potentially make it easier? I'm sure of that too. But I'm just one dude spitting out a fantasy without going through and writing up an actual business plan (which would really be before the first contact with Take Two takes place).
Without having any knowledge of the situation, and without having any insider information about Intercept... Stuff like that happens in some industries all the time. It isn't all that uncommon for people to come and go, especially on large projects. The company I work for has layoffs and firings and people walking out all the time, and nobody really questions it. The gaming industry, I imagine, is pretty ruthless and everyone is always looking for a bigger payday or more money or more responsibility. It wouldn't surprise me or cause any weirdness (in my opinion) to see people coming and going all the time.
