Moebius: Empire Rising
| Moebius: Empire Rising | |
|---|---|
| Developers | Phoenix Online Studios Pinkerton Road Studio |
| Publisher | Phoenix Online Publishing |
| Designer | Jane Jensen |
| Composer | Robert Holmes |
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux |
| Release | April 15, 2014[1] |
| Genre | Graphic adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Moebius: Empire Rising is a graphic adventure video game developed by Pinkerton Road Studio and Phoenix Online Studios, and published by Phoenix Online Publishing. It is for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux.
Plot
The game's protagonist is Malachi Rector, a globe-trotting antiques dealer. A secretive government agency called FITA hires him to investigate a murdered woman in Venice. He soon encounters David Walker, a soldier who seems to have a mysterious connection with him. Malachi travels the world investigating various incidents and their ties to history.
Development
Pinkerton Road Studio was formed by Jane Jensen and her husband Robert Holmes as a way to step back into game development as independents. On April 10, 2012, Pinkerton Road announced their plans to have a crowd funded production of two new graphic-adventure games titled Moebius and Mystery Game X, inspired by recent Kickstarter successes such as Double Fine's recent success of using Kickstarter to fund Double Fine Adventure.[2]
On May 7, 2012, Pinkerton Road Studio reached its Kickstarter goal of $300,000.[3] Jane Jensen's Kickstarter campaign ended on May 19, accumulating around $435,000 from backers (less fees).[4] The game was ultimately programmed by Phoenix Online Studios.
Reception
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 60%[5] |
| Metacritic | 54/100[6] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Adventure Gamers | 2.5/5[7] |
| Eurogamer | 5/10 (Germany)[8] 4/10 (Italy)[9] |
| Game Informer | 6/10[10] |
| GameRevolution | 4/5[11] |
| GameSpot | 4/10[12] |
| GamesRadar+ | 2.5/5[13] |
| IGN | 7.9/10 (Italy)[14] |
| Joystiq | 2/5[15] |
| Polygon | 4/10[16] |
Moebius: Empire Rising received mixed reviews from critics. Critical aggregator GameRankings calculated an average score of 60%,[5] while Metacritic calculated a weighted score of 54/100.[6]
How well the game sold is not known precisely. In 2016, Jane Jensen announced that Pinkerton had no games currently under development and the website was closing. She wrote that Moebius and Gabriel Knight: 20th Anniversary Edition had not sold well enough to justify continued development. Robert Holmes said in a 2023 interview that he and Jensen had ultimately invested a lot of their own money to get their initial two projects to completion, but concluded that their existing model was not financially viable.[17]
References
- ^ Moebius: Available Now
- ^ Nathan Gilchrist. "Legendary Game Designer Jane Jensen Launches 'Pinkerton Road' Studio". Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ Fred Dutton (7 May 2012). "Jane Jensen adventure game Kickstarter reaches funding goal". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ Jane Jensen (May 19, 2012). "Jane Jensen's Moebius and Pinkerton Road Studio".
- ^ a b "Moebius: Empire Rising for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ a b "Moebius: Empire Rising for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ Berens, Nathaniel (April 17, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising review". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Grimm, Matthias (April 25, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising – Test". Eurogamer.de (in German). Eurogamer (DE). Gamer Network. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Baglioni, Emiliano (May 26, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising e i contro di Kickstarter - review" (in Italian). Eurogamer (IT). Gamer Network. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Wallace, Kimberley (April 14, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising". Game Informer. GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 18, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Almogi, Gil (April 15, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising Review". Game Revolution. Net Revolution Inc. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Woolsey, Cameron (April 14, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Tarin, Donny (April 14, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising Review". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Maderna, Andrea (April 15, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising Recensione" (in Italian). IGN. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Conditt, Jessica (April 22, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising review: Elementary, oh dear". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Riendeau, Danielle (April 24, 2014). "Moebius: Empire Rising Review: Remedial history". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ OneShortEye (August 20, 2023). How Speedrunners BROKE this Game in One Keypress. YouTube. Event occurs at 22:15-23:32. Retrieved March 8, 2026.