Factor 5 closes shop
polycounter lvl 13
I don't think these guys have made any thing new recently, but they did the rogue squadron series and god damn that was some of the best star wars gaming ever in my opinion(N64 the most though!) To bad to see another go =[
http://kotaku.com/5253800/factor-5-officially-shuttered
From the article:
http://kotaku.com/5253800/factor-5-officially-shuttered
From the article:
We are sorry to announce the closure of the San Rafael-based Factor 5 Inc. studio, but the obstacles created by the sudden bankruptcy of Brash Entertainment for the continuation of operations have turned out too great to overcome in the current economic climate.
Replies
These are the ones I know of:
( May, 09 ) 3D Realms
( May, 09 ) Factor 5
( Feb, 09 ) Pandemic Studios, Brisbane Australia
( Jan, 09 ) Eidos, Manchester
( Jan, 09 ) Nexon, Vancouver
( Nov, 08 ) Sandblast Games
( Nov, 08 ) Locomotive Games
( Nov, 08 ) Helix
( Nov, 08 ) Paradigm Entertainment
( Sep, 08 ) Ensemble Studios
( Aug, 08 ) Pivotal Games
( Aug, 08 ) Flagship Studios
( Feb, 08 ) Iron Lore
on a side note, 09 looks like it'll end up being worse then 08 was at this rate
edit: updated list
My best wishes to all the talented folks who were let go.
I bet things would have been different had Lair been any good...
Pivotal Games, Bath - Aug,08
Well what really hurt the game was its over ambitious control scheme. I wish someone of authority on the design team stopped an said, (hey wait, we should include analog stick controls as an option)! Im sure the game would have scored higher across the board, which would have helped it out of the gate.
That said I did put a lot of hours into the game (Im a sucker for dragon riding games) and eventually got used to the controls, awkward as they were.
lulz were nowhere to be had
I get tired of saying it, but I REALLY hope all involved land on their feet.
I'm sure they'll make an announcement soon.
Heavy Iron and Incinerator Studios are still around...for now. THQ has them doing the Pixar Up games. Once those ship in a few weeks things might go downhill for them though.
Also it might be good to have a new thread just for closed companies. Maybe that could be a new sticky even!
Also, seeing as their are a lot of these threads on studios closing I second the motion for a 'studio closings' thread. I'll make one and keep it updated if many other people want it.
EA Black Box
Midway
I can't keep track of who when where why anymore. You become desensitized to it.
Free Radical didnt die exactly, they went into administration, and have been bought by crytek to become Cryteck UK.
Cheyanne Mountain didn't pay their employees for a while, but they did eventualy get funding it would appear as they're still around.
Midway is bankrupt but not dead, and continue to retain a (smaller) staff of artists.
I'm not completly sure on BlackBoxs status, but I believe despite layoffs they're still going.
bounchfx:
I'm not sure if I completly beliee that story, sounds more like 3D Realms is open from no more then a legal standpoint. Sense they let the entire dev team go until hearing about them hiring again or perhaps some secret dev team that was still onboard they are effectivly still dead.
Steve:
How about a thread that lists all openings and closings in one? or would it be better to keep the negative and positive threads seperate?
what a sad news. but really, games industry need to rethink their approach. I don't think this is working any good except for a few studios. At least in my country prices are ridiculous, i don't buy/play a game since christmas...