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Game Developer and Publisher DEATH WATCH Thread

A

a Master Ninja

Member
I’ve lost track of how many studios and publishers have closed their doors or had mass layoffs this generation. It's sad to think about and some may deem this thread to be in poor taste, but I think this topic warrants discussion. (If I'm wrong, may a Mod strike this thread down swiftly.)

The premise of the thread is simple: Post a studio or publisher that you believe is in serious trouble, and cite some examples why you believe that. Don’t bother with posts that are just a company name without an explanation, or listing a healthy company that you wish would die.

I’ll start:

Capcom
It seems like Capcom is slowly turning into the Japanese Midway. Churning out fighting games one of the few sources of income they can rely on; they’ve got too many crappy outsourced projects; they greenlight questionable projects only to cancel them mid-development; and now they’ve found their “Stranglehold” in Dragon’s Dogma. The game will be Capcom’s most expensive game ever, created by their biggest team ever, and they only expect lifetime sales of about 1.5 million copies worldwide. The company has been completely mismanaged this entire generation. They've let amazing talent go out the door, and I fully expect significant cuts and layoffs when Q4 goes even worse than they planned for.
 
S

Salsa

Member
I feel like Capcom is the only true answer as far as what people are aware of, but i think it'll never die.

in before someone comes and shouts NINTENDO

lol
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Capcom will stay afloat for as long as CapGAF keeps buying their re-releases. :p
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
JaseC said:
Capcom will stay afloat for as long as CapGAF keeps buying their re-releases. :p
Click to expand...
Yep. Street Fighter itself sells shit ton, and Resident Evil is a mass seller.

Capcom has a lot of franchises and they need to focus on all of them real soon. Management will change once their investors will see the losses of 2011/2012.
 
A

a Master Ninja

Member
shagg_187 said:
What? Thread already derailed. Capcom will never die. Mismanaged, yes, but death is way far off.

They need management change, stat.
Click to expand...
Maybe I made the thread title too inflammatory. The intent is to discuss the really, REALLY poor business decisions companies are making this generation. THQ is another publisher I'm very concerned about.
 
G

Grayman

Member
Platinum Games - critically acclaimed games but they are not lighting the charts on fire. Will probably reform as a new name if this happens.

Long run answer:
Take Two - playing with the big 3 in production value and marketing but constantly flirting with financial disaster every time they get too far away from a GTA release. It might take ten years but even a small hiccup crash in the console market could kill these guys and make them part of EA, Acti or maybe Ubi(would be treated more like a merger).
 
Auto_aim1

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Yeah, Capcom and Square Enix will never die, since they have a lot of valuable IPs. They just need good direction. THQ has a high chance of going bankrupt though, they hardly have franchises that bring in a lot of money. Plus, they have been performing really poorly for the past few years.
 
G

Grayman

Member
wow I forgot THQ existed. Ya they are pretty fucked. Not successful enough for the AAA market but still trying.
 
R

rainking187

Member
Irem. I know they're supposed to be putting out some 3DS game, but I still feel like their death isn't far off. Cancelling two titles, one of which was due to be released shortly (and discontinuing all the previous games in one of the series) was a terrible decision.
 
F

FateBreaker

Member
Meisadragon said:
Yeah, Capcom and Square Enix will never die, since they have a lot of valuable IPs. They just need good direction. THQ has a high chance of going bankrupt though, they hardly have franchises that bring in a lot of money. Plus, they have been performing really poorly for the past few years.
Click to expand...

Nah, they'll be fine. I can see why you think this, though.
 
A

Alrus

Member
THQ is probably the "biggest" studio who is concerned with bankruptcy. Their recent try to make a big FPS franchise kinda failed (Homefront was ridiculously expensive, and the marketing probably cost them a ton, for relatively mediocre sales). And they don't have any huge seller anymore. If one of their decent selling franchise fails, they're done for.

Take-Two seems to be badly mismanaged, they sell a massive amount of games and still loose money. All their big projects seem to spend years in development hell and suffer massive delays, resulting in bloated budget and a high risk for failure.
 
G

Gamer @ Heart

Member
I hope El Shaddai doesnt kill Ignition. That game has been in development far longer than it should have, and is probably why they killed off all internal development.
 
C

Cosmo Clock 21

Banned
Meisadragon said:
Yeah, Capcom and Square Enix will never die, since they have a lot of valuable IPs. They just need good direction. THQ has a high chance of going bankrupt though, they hardly have franchises that bring in a lot of money. Plus, they have been performing really poorly for the past few years.
Click to expand...
Final Fantasy definitely isn't the monster of a brand it used to be, and Megaman seems to be all but dead at Capcom. Might be early signs of a shift in profitability at the two companies.
 
K

Kazerei

Banned
Majesco? They publish alot of crap, but occasionally they hit a gold mine, such as Cooking Mama and Zumba Fitness. I wouldn't bet on their long-term survival.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
a Master Ninja said:
Maybe I made the thread title too inflammatory. The intent is to discuss the really, REALLY poor business decisions companies are making this generation. THQ is another publisher I'm very concerned about.
Click to expand...
It's all good! <3

Sega is the company that comes to mind, if you'd ask me a few months ago. Their recent titles interest me a lot e.g. Aliens: Colonial Marines, Renegade Ops and House of the Dead: Overkill remake for PS3, so yay!
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
Death Watch
I'm definitely concerned with THQ because they're doubling down on AAA development and I don't think it's a safe plan to have so much of your business geared in that sector.

Namco has not put out a single thing this generation I've been interested in. It certainly seems like they could wind up in trouble.

MGS: Peace Walker was fantastic, but aside from that Konami hasn't put out many games I've been interested in. The fact that their most promising games on the horizon are HD remakes is troubling

Not Death Watch
Capcom has mismanaged a lot, but on the other hand has had absolutely stark clear success with properties such as Monster Hunter, Street Fighter 4 and Resident Evil 5. I am hopeful this company will be able to move beyond their recent troubles and continue to put out great games.

When I look at the constant stream of negative Nintendo threads we've gotten this week, I feel like in comparison I'm actually pretty positive on Nintendo. However, Iwata has mentioned a plan to move toward more of a digital presence, similar to how the western publishers have adjusted, but so far I am very skeptical that Nintendo will be able to achieve this. I very much would like them to meet this goal but they have a long way to go.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
Nippon Ichi hasn't had a hit in a while, and it was reported a while ago that Marvelous wasn't doing all that well. Marvelous is publishing Grand Knights History in Japan however and that looks great. Hopefully that works out well for them.
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
a Master Ninja said:
I’ve lost track of how many studios and publishers have closed their doors or had mass layoffs this generation.
Click to expand...


Here is a handy list I was keeping. Below was mostly current to December 2010. Have added the recent THQ and Team Bondi ones, plus Bizarre Creations.

Mario said:
Another to add to the list of recent casualties with entries I think are correct from 2007 (if any are incorrect let me know)

Backbone Vancouver
Bizarre Creations (Activision)
Blue Tongue (THQ)
BottleRocket
Castaway Entertainment
EA Chicago (EA)
Ensemble (MS)
Factor 5 US
FASA (MS)
Fizz Factor (Foundation 9 group)
Flagship Studios
FuzzyEyes - not sure on this one
Gamelab
GRiN
Humannature Studio (Nexon)
Ironlore
Krome Studios (might still be operating on skeleton crew)
Kush Games (Take 2)
Locomotive Games (THQ)
Nexon Vancouver (Nexon)
PAM Development France (Take 2)
Pandemic Australia (EA)
Pandemic LA (EA)
Paradigm Entertainment (THQ)
Pivotal Games
Pseudo Interactive
Red Tibe
Sandblast Games (THQ)
Shaba Games (Activision)
Stormfront Studios
Straylight Studios
Team Bondi (assets/staff rolled into KMM Sydney)
THQ Studio Australia
Transmission Games
Venom Games (Take 2)
Vicarious Visions California (Activision)


Auran and 3D Realms I think have all been reduced to holding companies with just a skeleton crew and sales staff.

Publisher closures include Brash, Empire, Red Mile Entertainment, and Midway (the latter closed Aces Game Studio, Blacksite Studio and Midway Austin in late 2008 through early 2009).
Click to expand...
 
G

glaurung

Member
One more vote for THQ from me. They have systematically closed down a whole lot of studios under the corporate umbrella and at this point their properties are better off with another, more concerned party.

Saints Row the Third might be a saving item for them. Or not.
 
B

BrokenEchelon

Banned
It seems that any Western developer has one chance to make a profitable game before they are shuttered by their publishing parent company.

I'm talking about stuff under Activision, THQ, and EA specifically.
 
A

a Master Ninja

Member
I wonder about Insomniac Games, long-term.

Resistance 3 probably won't be the big hit Sony wants it to be, even if it is significantly better than Resistance 2. Will Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One's focus on multiplayer help or hurt it? What is the threshold for Sony continuing to fund these franchises?

Then we have Overstrike, Insomniac Games's first foray into multiplatform development, which seems really risky to me. I can't shake the feeling that this kinda goofy new sci-fi spy IP just won't resonate with the mainstream audience, especially this late in the console cycle.
eUbLM.jpg

That just looks really unappealing. The game will probably be good, but I wonder if people will even give it a chance.

EDIT: Thanks for the list, Mario.
 
C

cosmicblizzard

Banned
Protip: "They don't make games I'm interested in anymore" =/= the company is in trouble.

That being said, I'm really having trouble believing a few niche Japanese game publishers like Xseed will survive unless I'm seriously overestimating how much they need to survive. Seriously hope I'm proven wrong.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
The Xtortionist said:
Square seems to be floundering around with not much to get excited about in the near future.
Click to expand...
Disagree. Square's purchase of Taito and Eidos was one of the smartest decisions by a Japanese compan., ensuring that the Japanese developers making Japan-oriented games and let the western developers make western games.
 
F

FINALFANTASYDOG

Member
This thread is insane, have you guys looked at capcom's and namco's latest quarterly reports? They are in no danger whatsoever(to the extent that Namco was practically the top Japanese publisher last quarter)

Edit: Namco made 5 billon yen more this quarter then they did the same quarter last year
 
S

sleepykyo

Member
Mario said:
Here is a handy list I was keeping. Below was mostly current to December 2010. Have added the recent THQ and Team Bondi ones, plus Bizarre Creations.
Click to expand...

Is that a lot or just business as usual?

I'll disagree with Master Ninja on Capcom. While I can see how it seems similar Midway was in league of their own with Stranglehold and Wheelman, games relying heavily on action stars that were past their prime. With MvC, Capcom tends to get relevant characters as Marvel releases new movies. And then there is RE and DMC, which will survive their upcoming projects (well Resident Evil probably will).
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
I wouldnt put Activision on death watch just yet, but in the long term (as in looking to the next gen) I could see Activision being smaller than they are now, and subsiding more on Blizzard's success. They still haven't really shown the ability to create new, successful IPs and so if Call of Duty's popularity wanes, they're going to be in serious trouble.
 
F

FINALFANTASYDOG

Member
cosmicblizzard said:
Oh, Nippon Ichi is also in trouble, right? Weren't they relying completely on Disgaea 4?
Click to expand...

No Nippon Ichi is not in trouble, they lost around 500,000 dollars this quarter due to lack of releases(it's always this way this quarter, less of a loss then it was last year)

Their yearly forecast is still in the millions in turns of profit
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
a Master Ninja said:
I wonder about Insomniac Games, long-term.

Resistance 3 probably won't be the big hit Sony wants it to be, even if it is significantly better than Resistance 2. Will Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One's focus on multiplayer help or hurt it? What is the threshold for Sony continuing to fund these franchises?

Then we have Overstrike, Insomniac Games's first foray into multiplatform development, which seems really risky to me. I can't shake the feeling that this kinda goofy new sci-fi spy IP just won't resonate with the mainstream audience, especially this late in the console cycle.
eUbLM.jpg

That just looks really unappealing. The game will probably be good, but I wonder if people will even give it a chance.

EDIT: Thanks for the list, Mario.
Click to expand...


Yeah I agree with this. Personally I've never been a big fan of their games, and Overstrike had a really underwhelming E3 showing.
 
N

Noshino

Member
rainking187 said:
Irem. I know they're supposed to be putting out some 3DS game, but I still feel like their death isn't far off. Cancelling two titles, one of which was due to be released shortly (and discontinuing all the previous games in one of the series) was a terrible decision.
Click to expand...

pulling their games from psn, delays, cancellations, lack of original games....

Sorry, but I dont see Irem getting out of this one

Gamer @ Heart said:
I hope El Shaddai doesnt kill Ignition. That game has been in development far longer than it should have, and is probably why they killed off all internal development.
Click to expand...

If El Shaddai doesn't, Disney will.
 
G

glaurung

Member
Tiktaalik said:
Yeah I agree with this. Personally I've never been a big fan of their games, and Overstrike had a really underwhelming E3 showing.
Click to expand...
Was there a showing of the game at E3?

I thought they only pushed the trailer and some concept art and that was it.

Same with that WWII nazi-killing game with excess gore, at least that got a closed theater demo to journos.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
FINALFANTASYDOG said:
This thread is insane, have you guys looked at capcom's and namco's latest quarterly reports? They are in no danger whatsoever(to the extent that Namco was practically the top Japanese publisher last quarter)

Edit: Namco made 5 billon yen more this quarter then they did the same quarter last year
Click to expand...


Yeah I hadn't looked at their recent numbers. My comment about Namco was purely based on negative tilting neogaf threads such as these:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386509
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=25761673

Good to know it's not all disaster at Namco as these threads would have one believe.
 
N

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Didn't we already have a thread for this?

Another to add to the list of recent casualties with entries I think are correct from 2007 (if any are incorrect let me know)

Backbone Vancouver
Bizarre Creations (Activision)
Blue Tongue (THQ)
BottleRocket
Castaway Entertainment
EA Chicago (EA)
Ensemble (MS)
Factor 5 US
FASA (MS)
Fizz Factor (Foundation 9 group)
Flagship Studios
FuzzyEyes - not sure on this one
Gamelab
GRiN
Humannature Studio (Nexon)
Ironlore
Krome Studios (might still be operating on skeleton crew)
Kush Games (Take 2)
Locomotive Games (THQ)
Nexon Vancouver (Nexon)
PAM Development France (Take 2)
Pandemic Australia (EA)
Pandemic LA (EA)
Paradigm Entertainment (THQ)
Pivotal Games
Pseudo Interactive
Red Tibe
Sandblast Games (THQ)
Shaba Games (Activision)
Stormfront Studios
Straylight Studios
Team Bondi (assets/staff rolled into KMM Sydney)
THQ Studio Australia
Transmission Games
Venom Games (Take 2)
Vicarious Visions California (Activision)


Auran and 3D Realms I think have all been reduced to holding companies with just a skeleton crew and sales staff.

Publisher closures include Brash, Empire, Red Mile Entertainment, and Midway (the latter closed Aces Game Studio, Blacksite Studio and Midway Austin in late 2008 through early 2009).
Click to expand...

You're missing Free Radical (yeah yeah I know most of the staff were folded into Crytek UK)

You're also missing Artoon, Cavia, Cing and Hudson (I'm sure there's plenty more but I'll have to do some research)

Irem and THQ will be next. They're teetering on the edge and THQ have a guaranteed big budget bomba lined up for November (Saints Row 3)
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
glaurung said:
Was there a showing of the game at E3?

I thought they only pushed the trailer and some concept art and that was it.

Same with that WWII nazi-killing game with excess gore, at least that got a closed theater demo to journos.
Click to expand...

I just meant the trailer. To me it was very unimpressive and I didn't get the feeling that a lot of the gaming press were super excited about it either.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Mario said:
Here is a handy list I was keeping. Below was mostly current to December 2010. Have added the recent THQ and Team Bondi ones, plus Bizarre Creations.
Click to expand...

Cing. :(
 
T

Takao

Banned
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
I think Namco Bandai is still doing OK (they're not limited to Namco stuff anyway, they've got Bandai stuff like Gundam, Digimon, etc.).

The ones that we should be concerned of are THQ and SnK.
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
sleepykyo said:
Is that a lot or just business as usual?
Click to expand...

A fair number of these we post GFC where the number of work for hire projects dropped and profit margins on dev budgets came down making the marketplace extremely competitive. Many layoffs and some publisher owned studio closures were in response to publishers scaling back their investments and ongoing costs in response to the impact of the GFC on their share price.

You could argue that is business as usual, as some studios spend a lot of their time limping from project to project regardless of what the market is looking like, but certainly 2009 and 2010 put a lot of additional pressure on an already challenging business model.
 
R

Rlan

Member
Mario said:
A fair number of these we post GFC where the number of work for hire projects dropped and profit margins on dev budgets came down making the marketplace extremely competitive. Many layoffs and some publisher owned studio closures were in response to publishers scaling back their investments and ongoing costs in response to the impact of the GFC on their share price.

You could argue that is business as usual, as some studios spend a lot of their time limping from project to project regardless of what the market is looking like, but certainly 2009 and 2010 put a lot of additional pressure on an already challenging business model.
Click to expand...
Is there a list of current Aus / NZ devs out there? It's getting smaller and smaller, but guys like Torus and Tantalus still stay alive despite a very small profile.
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
Rlan said:
Is there a list of current Aus / NZ devs out there? It's getting smaller and smaller, but guys like Torus and Tantalus still stay alive despite a very small profile.
Click to expand...

Actually, the number of NZ developers is growing rapidly. The industry here is mostly insulated from a lot of the wider troubles because we mostly had to become self sufficient, creating our own content and distributing online. So there are lots of NZ devs making games for Flash, Smartphone, PC/Mac download, as well as a couple making console and handheld games.

The main community website for NZ devs is currently down, but here is a GAF thread I made to showcase some NZ content. There are still dozens of NZ devs I have to add.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=411149
 
F

Furret

Banned
THQ are so dead you might as well organise the funeral right now.

Saints Row 3 is going to flop like a beached whale this Christmas (purely based on the competition, it actually seems quite good) and that's going to be a wound they'll never recover from.
 
B

BrokenEchelon

Banned
ConradCervantes said:
Yeah, I love it when people are unemployed too. UP TOP!
Click to expand...

I never said I want them to be unemployed. I just don't want them existing in a field where they clearly don't belong. (In my opinion of course, and I'll vote with my wallet).
 
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