Posts tagged Credit Crunch
Smile = Wiped: GRIN closes
Aug 13th
Following the closure of their satellite studios earlier in the month and various rumours regarding their status, Bo & Ulf Andersson (aka. The Brothers GRIN) have announced that the doors at the Swedish studio are closed for good.
The main reason cited is various publishers withholding cash, possibly due the mediocre sales and reception of Bionic Commando (the long-awaited sequel of the infamous Capcom property), Wanted: Weapons of Fate & Terminator: Salvation (both movie licensed properties heavily slated for linearity, duff gameplay and barely 10 hours of gameplay between them.
For this writer, however, GRIN will always be remembered for Ballistics, the hyper-speed racing game that appeared on PC and then suddenly turned up in arcades, much too my surprise when I found one in Croydon!
The letter can be seen on their website here, but since you don't want too leave us, it's after the cut too.
Is the end nigh for Deadline Games?
Jun 1st
Deadline Games, purveyor of the fun Total Overdose, the disappointingly average Watchmen: The End is Nigh and the stillborn Faith and a .45, have supposedly filed for bankruptcy.
The news comes on the eve of much speculation about the companies future and the confusion about whether the second episode will hit the PC or not. Thank god it (apparantly) is coming to the Windows platform - I can't stand episodic series that aren't finished...
Watchmen: The End is Nigh - Episode 2 is coming to the Xbox 360, PS3 and (possibly) Windows via the Steam platform in July. The console versions are also receiving a retail release.
Wii Wises (in price) – UK Economy = Sad Face
Mar 11th
Gameindustry.biz carries the unfortunate news that Nintendo are too raise the trade price for the Wii in the UK to the order of £18-20 (from its current RRP of £179.99), despite the console making a profit from day one and selling more boxes than, well, boxes of boxes!
The excuse? The collapsing value of the pound, which was (probably) ruined by all those Americans who took up mortgages on $300,000 houses despite working in McD's.
What this means for the Wii @ Wii-tail is unknown, seeing as supermarkets tend to absorb most price rises to generate sales and the high-street brands are slowly bring their retail sales into parity with their internet sales following wholesale mispricing.
It also means that if the Wii (officially i.e. eBay whoring not include) breaches £200, it will be more expensive in certain outlets than the top-spec Xbox 360 - the Elite - which can be had from places such as GAME for £199.99 (with that price including a game, not just a family-oriented tech demo).
Watch this space!
Independent Creativity – ‘Creative Downturn’ Editorial
Feb 28th
GameIndustry.biz has a very interesting editorial article on how the dire economic situation™ might stifle creativity in the industry following the risk associated with commercial failure of products based on newly developed IPs such as Dead Space & Mirror's Edge.
Luckily, there's light at the end of the tunnel as, with the avenues for distribution ever expanding on every format under the sun, independent creativity will almost certainly ensure a constant stream of reasonably priced, overtly playable and, most importantly, innovative releases for years too come.
Check it out here.
Crytek purchases corpse of Free Radical **UPDATED**
Feb 4th
Despite everyone's misgivings and apathy towards Haze, I don't think anyone was happy to see Free Radical go to the wall. The company was one of the first victims of the economic downturn and has been operating in administration on a skeleton staff whilst a buyer was sought.
Well, now one has, and it's everyones favourite teutonic crybabies, Crytek.
Employment Crisis – Financial Situation squeezes games companies. *UPDATED*
Jan 26th
Earlier in the month, we reported that Crystal Dynamics were downsized and in December, Free Radical & Factor 5 disappeared, amongst others. Since then, there have been significant rumours of layoffs at larger companies including Microsoft, EA and Sega.
Unfortunately, these days, rumours have a habit of coming true.
Kotaku are keeping track of all developments but a few are outlined below...
Underworld Underperforms – **UPDATED**
Jan 10th
You know there's something not quite right with an industry when a product can sell (not just ship, mind you) 1.5 million individual copies across 6 major platforms and it's performance is deemed 'unsatisfactory'...
Unfortunately, such a fate has befallen the latest Tomb Raider game, Underworld.
Despite receiving above average reviews (in spite of some bugs, camera & control issues, poor combat, inconsistent story-telling & a short length) the game simply hasn't sold as well as EIDOS believes it should have.
US mag EGM falls foul of the credit crunch.
Jan 9th
Veteran US gaming mag Electronic Gaming Monthly has been cancelled after 20 years of reporting gaming news.
Publishers, Ziff Davis, had been looking to sell off EGM and 1up.com for quite some time to help relieve their debt problems. They finally managed to offload the website and magazine to UGO Entertainment. Unfortunately, UGO decided to drop the axe on EGM and much of 1up.com's popular and innovative video and podcast content including the 1up Show in a bid to save money.
Farewell to EGM and the best of luck to all the staff from both EGM and 1up.com that now find themselves without jobs. Thanks for all your hard work over the years. You will be missed. A list of the casualties to the sale can be found here.
Zavvi console sale – update
Dec 24th
Destructoid is reporting that Virgin Megastores Zavvi is now pumping out Xbox 360 Arcade SKUs in its retail outlets for a Sainsbury's equalling £99. The more attractive/feature-complete Premium SKUs are going for £149 & l33t Elites for a snip under £200 too.
The rival PS3 is also coasting at £269.99, which means it's still cheaper than a standalone Blu-Ray player...
As they have the commercial popularity & rarity of gold-dust, the Wii seems to (unsurprisingly) be holding it's price.
BREAKING - Following the collapse of Woolworths and their distribution arm, Entertainment UK, Zavvi have now themselves gone into administration.
Web-orders are no longer being taken on zavvi.co.uk, but expect loads of discounted stuff in stores as the company tries to claw back some cash.
Free Radical closing
Dec 18th
Gotta love recessions...
There's been no official word yet, but it seems the economic downturn has hit another developer.
Free Radical, developers of the Timesplitters series, the brilliant Second Sight and the (unfortunately) thoroughly mediocre Haze, have apparantly been taken too the wall.
Sad too see people go, but after Haze's frosty critical reception, i'm actually surprised they weren't disbanded earlier.
Update -
Seems to be official now. Tiga have issued a statement...
"On behalf of all Tiga members, I would like to say how sorry the whole industry is to hear of the fate of Free Radical Design... ...The studio has employed some very talented teams developing first class games over the years. Free Radical Design has also been a member of Tiga and a strong supporter of our trade association.
I would like to congratulate everyone at the studio for their past achievements and I wish everyone good fortune in finding a new job as quickly as possible. Free Radical Design's demise highlights the difficult economic environment in which UK games developers do business."
Update2 -
1UP is carrying the story of the fallout from FR's collapse -
Troubled UK developer Free Radical is to lose over three quarters of its staff, it was announced today. The company is to be left with a skeleton staff of around 40, and is now officially up for sale.
Speaking to 1UP, Cameron Gunn of administrators ReSolve Partners said, "We made around 140 employees redundant yesterday, effective 31 December (the date up to which they had been paid). We're still trading on with the remaining 40 or so employees, have advertised the business for sale and have received some strong interest."
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