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Confirmed: Layoffs at Krome (Studio Closed)

V

V_Ben

Banned
I'm not sure what's going on, but Dylan Cuthbert just tweeted this;

lots of game companies laying off people this week, the most recent being Krome in Australia closing down their studio
Click to expand...

I hope that it isn't true. Post if you're alright Gazunta :(

Edit: It's confirmed. Son of a bitch :(
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Hope this isn't true. If so...here's the Game Room salute, gents.

1443003-ryan_super.jpg
 
onken

onken

Member
From the wiki if anyone else was curious. I mean yeah, not a fantastic legacy, but of course still a shame nonetheless.

* Championship Surfer, (PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows) (2000)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2002)
* The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Jet Fusion, (PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2003)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2004)
* King Arthur, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2004)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2005)
* The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2006)
* The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2007)
* Viva Piñata: Party Animals, (Xbox 360) (2007)
* Hellboy: The Science of Evil, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, (PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels, (Wii) (2008)
* Scene It? Box Office Smash, (Xbox 360) (2008)
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2009)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable) (2009)[4]
* Game Room, (Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)
* Blade Kitten, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)[5]
* Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii) (2010)
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
Nope it's true; and it looks like it's everything and everyone.

Australian game developers Krome Studios will close their doors this coming Monday, all studios including Brisbane included. All staff members have been let go, however some staff will be rehired on contacts in order to get outstanding work completed
Click to expand...

Sad news indeed, and worrying for the entire industry here.
 
C

confused

Banned
Well, I can say that I never ever bought a single game by this studio. Even if Blade Kitten looked decent until I actually got to try it. Shame if true, though.
 
J

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
Celine said:
I thought Mario worked for Sidhe ...
Click to expand...
I thought he wanted to play a good platformer to ease up the pain.

Still sad news. Good luck to all the Krome staff :(
 
N

[Nintex]

Member
After Game Room, I expected them to get more work from Microsoft to build gaming oriented XBLA services. But since Microsoft Game Studios has stopped making games I doubt they had any interest in working with Krome again :(
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
Not great news :(


Mush said:
Someone get Mario in here!
Click to expand...

Not much we can do. We are chatting to them about some collaborative stuff and might possibly pick up some laid off staff as we have in the past, but we aren't in a position to turn anything around completely. I wish we were because Krome has helped us out many times in the past when we needed support. We'll do what we can.

I'm actually over in Australia at the moment, just south of Brisbane on the Gold Coast at GCAP, so happy to chat personally to anyone affected that is in town or at the very least offer them a drink.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
Lame, but not entirely surprising. Industry's rebooting and shedding a lot of people, it seems. What happens now to Game Room? Flawed as it is, there's still an awesome platform to be developed there.
 
D

Dambrosi

Banned
onken said:
From the wiki if anyone else was curious. I mean yeah, not a fantastic legacy, but of course still a shame nonetheless.

* Championship Surfer, (PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows) (2000)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2002)
* The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Jet Fusion, (PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2003)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2004)
* King Arthur, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2004)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2005)
* The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2006)
* The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2007)
* Viva Piñata: Party Animals, (Xbox 360) (2007)
* Hellboy: The Science of Evil, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, (PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels, (Wii) (2008)
* Scene It? Box Office Smash, (Xbox 360) (2008)
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2009)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable) (2009)[4]
* Game Room, (Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)
* Blade Kitten, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)[5]
* Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii) (2010)
Click to expand...
Was it just me, or did the PSN demo of this just plain not work for anyone else? Like, just hang to a black screen, no quitting to XMB or anything?

Edit: fuck, I forgot that these guys were Melbourne House! Here's hoping they all land on their feet somehow. Truly the end of an era.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
MightyHedgehog said:
Lame, but not entirely surprising. Industry's rebooting and shedding a lot of people, it seems. What happens now to Game Room? Flawed as it is, there's still an awesome platform to be developed there.
Click to expand...


Microsoft might pick up the team themselves, find a new team or just abandon The Game Room.
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
Dambrosi said:
Was it just me, or did the PSN demo of this just plain not work for anyone else? Like, just hang to a black screen, no quitting to XMB or anything?
Click to expand...

I think there was some issue like the disc tray having to be empty for it to run.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
This sucks balls.

I would have thought that at least landing some movie tie ins would help keep studios afloat between bigger projects? Their history is quite good if not inclusive of anything that set the charts on fire. Lots of great games for younger audiences.
 
A

Aaron

Member
Shard said:
Microsoft might pick up the team themselves, find a new team or just abandon The Game Room.
Click to expand...
They've basically done this already, considering they haven't gotten any new publishers to sign since the beginning, and the number of releases have gotten steadily fewer.
 
C

cuyahoga

Dudebro, My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight-Up Dawg Time
Aussie game industry is pretty much decimated.
 
W

Wolves Evolve

Member
This is confirmed. Please keep in mind the remaining good Aussie studios such as Firemint and Infinite Interactive. if you're an international games publisher, check them out!
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
onken said:
From the wiki if anyone else was curious. I mean yeah, not a fantastic legacy, but of course still a shame nonetheless.
Click to expand...

I think that list sort of underscores the importance of developing your own IP, not just doing contract work for licensed games.

I guess they tried that at the end with Blade Kitten, but it wasn't enough...
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
sad see one of the few flickering chances of me spending the rest of my life in Australia fade out.

best of luck to everyone.
 
B

brotkasten

Member
onken said:
From the wiki if anyone else was curious. I mean yeah, not a fantastic legacy, but of course still a shame nonetheless.

* Championship Surfer, (PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows) (2000)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2002)
* The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Jet Fusion, (PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2003)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2004)
* King Arthur, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2004)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2005)
* The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2006)
* The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2007)
* Viva Piñata: Party Animals, (Xbox 360) (2007)
* Hellboy: The Science of Evil, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, (PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable) (2008)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels, (Wii) (2008)
* Scene It? Box Office Smash, (Xbox 360) (2008)
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, (PlayStation 2, Wii) (2009)
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable) (2009)[4]
* Game Room, (Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)
* Blade Kitten, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows) (2010)[5]
* Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii) (2010)
Click to expand...
Now that's what I call a B-Studio. In the business for 10 years, just doing licensing stuff and probably never got a chance to make a big title.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
brotkasten said:
Now that's what I call a B-Studio. In the business for 10 years, just doing licensing stuff and probably never got a chance to make a big title.
Click to expand...

Well, they made the PS2/Wii/PSP version of Force Unleashed, and IIRC that was the most sold Star Wars game of all time (including the PS3/360/PC versions, obviously).
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
brotkasten said:
Now that's what I call a B-Studio. In the business for 10 years, just doing licensing stuff and probably never got a chance to make a big title.
Click to expand...
I would assume Ty was their big-title. I never played it but I remember hearing a bit of buzz about the first one?
 
Y

Ydahs

Member
Well shit, looks like I now might have to travel overseas if I decide to go down this path... still, a lot can happen in four years...
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
So fucked this industry is. Especially here.

My ambition to get into the industry has completely changed over the years. I now focus on doing game related stuff in my personal time, and see where it goes. Actual employment has to be found elsewhere.
 
S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
Ah, fuck. I mean, they didn't make the best stuff, but they're a great bunch of guys. I really hope you guys can find something, but it's got to be pretty grim if you're planted in Oz.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Segata Sanshiro said:
Ah, fuck. I mean, they didn't make the best stuff, but they're a great bunch of guys. I really hope you guys can find something, but it's got to be pretty grim if you're planted in Oz.
Click to expand...
Given that Pandemic also shut down recently, there must almost be nothing left.

The only other studios that come to mind are 2K Australia and EA Melbourne, which are both heavily programming houses that aren't especially large.
 
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