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[Diablohead]

This explains why Blade Kitten chopped off 33% of it's price 2 days after release on steam, then.

Hope everyone can find new jobs, last 2 years have been a nightmare for gaming work.

 

[kiryogi]

For what little I played due to other games. I enjoyed Blade Kitten. Thanks guys.

 

[SovanJedi]

Hope you lot find new jobs soon, best of luck! This sucks all the same.

 

[Pandemic]

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.

You called?

Very unfortunately to hear this news, good luck to those affected.

 

[spats]

Played the PSP version of The Force Unleashed. Perfectly good port. Sorry to see this happen.

 

[Epiphyte]

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.

There's still Blue Tongue

Hopefully De Blob 2 does well

 

[Cosmonaut X]

There's still Blue Tongue

Hopefully De Blob 2 does well

Sadly, I think even releasing a decent game that sells well isn't necessarily a guarantee that your studio will survive. Smaller studios, especially those dealing with licensed titles and the like, seem to be living hand-to-mouth and it just takes one delayed deal or the withdrawal of a contract to shut them down overnight.

 

[Carl]

Always sad to hear of studio closures

Best of luck to them all

 

[Boerseun]

I like their Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, and would have bought Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 had it come out on Wii. It's a shame that we probably won't see it now.

 

[TheOddOne]

The had a reduction before, right? Now they are closing, damn :/

 

[Stumpokapow]

I would say the strong Australian dollar factors into this as well. If you're a work-for-hire studio in Australia, one of your key advantages was currency weakness lowering costs for American companies. Now that the currency has surged, that advantage is significantly dulled.

 

[tim1138]

The had a reduction before, right? Now they are closing, damn :/

Yeah if I remember correctly they had a reduction due to not being picked up to do the Wii version of the Force Unleashed 2.

 

[Boerseun]

Yeah if I remember correctly they had a reduction due to not being picked up to do the Wii version of the Force Unleashed 2.

In the Force Unleashed their implementation of the Wii controls was good, making it the most fun version to play. Aside from the controls though the port was a bit lazy as it simply reused all the assets from the Ps2 version. Not to mention using scripted physics when the Wii can run Havok. I appreciate that they added a special multiplayer arena mode though, but because this mode doesn't support computer controlled players it really isn't as useful as it could have been.

 

[onipex]

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).

I thought the PS2 and Wii versions sold the most and I heard the clone wars game did ok too.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Krome never made a game I liked, in fact I hated them for the money wasted on Force Unleashed Wii (horrible, fucking horrible... at least it made them some money since the Wii sku was the best selling SW game ever) but first it's always sad to see layoffs, and second: I grew up with fucking Melbourne House!
Way of the Exploding Fist FTMW! :'-(

 

[U2NUMB]

ugh... this sucks. I must have been one of the few that actually enjoys the Game Room and I think it is very unique. Krome did a very good job on it if you ask me.

Hope they all land on their feet quickly.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

But who will win the Australian Game Developers Award for Best Character Design now?

 

[FoneBone]

I kind of saw this coming when Gazunta was talking about how important the Legend of the Guardians game was to the company. :-/

 

[StealthGoblin]

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.

If Team Bondi get L.A Noire out the door, they are Aussie and might have a decent future. Budget for that game is massive though.

 

[McBradders]

Fuck yes!

 

[Haunted]

I was looking at their list of games trying to find a really great game to pick out, but came up empty. Well, at least there's lots of solid work there. Consistent. Always sad to see another studio go. Good luck to all those affected.

...we have a video game industry?

not anymore! Krome was pretty much it.

Spoiler

not really

 

[Stumpokapow]

I was looking at their list of games trying to find a really great game to pick out, but came up empty.

Scene It BOS is really great. It'd definitely be in the top 2-3 trivia video games ever made (maybe allowing for YDKJ), and it's by far and away the best one this generation.

 

[digita1alchemy]

Goddamnit, does this mean that Melbourne House (now Krome Melbourne) is closed too? They never got to make anything good after Krome acquired them.

 

[Fersis]

Good luck to Gazunta and all the guys and gals from Krome.

 

[Princess Skittles]

Damn, I play Game Room constantly.

I suppose this won't really affect that much though, any number of teams could come in to work on it and all they really need to do is drop new games into it until they get someone in to continue working on the user interface.

 

[Bernbaum]

I kind of saw this coming when Gazunta was talking about how important the Legend of the Guardians game was to the company. :-/

It's an amazing game that holds up solidly regardless of the licensed property attached. Fuck, it's got the best flying mechanics this side of Rogue Squadron. Tight controls, lovely atmosphere and massive fuck-off levels with a draw distance longer than the Mississippi.

 

[Haunted]

Scene It BOS is really great. It'd definitely be in the top 2-3 trivia video games ever made (maybe allowing for YDKJ), and it's by far and away the best one this generation.

Ah, cool. Haven't played that one, I'll take your word for it.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Pouring one out for the Krome gents. What a shame.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

No, not Krome too

 

[Grecco]

This doesnt suprise me seing as how the Game Room releases has dropped down in quality significantly ( A good sign the studio has issues)

A shame for those who lost their jobs.. Hope they can land back on their feet soon.

 

[Dave Long]

Australia isn't dead until they kick out Fawkner. Infinite Interactive is still going strong.

http://www.infinite-interactive.com

 

[FoneBone]

It's an amazing game that holds up solidly regardless of the licensed property attached. Fuck, it's got the best flying mechanics this side of Rogue Squadron. Tight controls, lovely atmosphere and massive fuck-off levels with a draw distance longer than the Mississippi.

I'm not dissing the game itself. Licensed games, especially younger-skewing ones most likely to be bought by parents, tend to succeed or fail more on the strength of the license than the actual game quality. So factor in the movie's tepid box office, and... I don't have numbers for the game, but I'm guessing "not good," and that that was a direct factor in Krome's demise.

EDIT: And I haven't played it, so I'm not trying to discount your opinion, but it got scores in the 6s and 7s all around - it's "amazing"? Really?

 

[Azure Phoenix]

Terrible news, the demo of Blade Kitten was very good and I had planned to get the full game soon. Hopefully it won't get pulled from PSN due to them shutting down.

 

[Minamu]

Damn shame

 

[Leonsito]

 

[Acosta]

Terrible news, sorry to hear it. Best wishes to Gazunta and the rest of the team.

 

[The Awkward Wizard]

Damn that's terrible. Didn't Krome employ 200+ people?

 

[markatisu]

This sucks, I enjoyed some of their games. I think losing the SW ports must have hurt really bad (abysmal scores and word of mouth for the last Clone Wars game and FUII going to Red Fly for the Wii)

 

[bluemax]

Sadly, I think even releasing a decent game that sells well isn't necessarily a guarantee that your studio will survive. Smaller studios, especially those dealing with licensed titles and the like, seem to be living hand-to-mouth and it just takes one delayed deal or the withdrawal of a contract to shut them down overnight.

Speaking from first hand experience this is 100% correct.

Another issue is that the big publishers aren't doing as much internal IP development. So all the stuff that used to get farmed out to B and C tier developers is being done internally.

 

[SAB CA]

Blade Kitten was to be an episodic release, right? And hearing about how this was a bit of a dream project for them... man, that sucks! I'd still love to see how the game could be tightened up, if a sequel is made.

Man, and I enjoy Game Room too, when there's something worthy to play on it. So is this why the bundle idea was raised? Maybe as a way to float the service, until new devs are in place?

Good luck, men and women of Krome; hope you all get to continue following your dreams, and reaching for success!

 

[kassatsu]

Terrible news, the demo of Blade Kitten was very good and I had planned to get the full game soon. Hopefully it won't get pulled from PSN due to them shutting down.

It was published by Atari.

 

[hamchan]

Yeah this sucks. Not good for someone looking to enter the games industry from Australia.

 

[Lonely1]

I guess Blade Kitten was their hope.

 

[djtiesto]

Hope you're alright, Gazunta

 

[Princess Skittles]

I guess Blade Kitten was their hope.

It sounds more like Legend of the Guardians was their last betting chip.

 

[itxaka]

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)

Wasn't TY a hit on Europe?

 

[John Rabbit]

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

* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube) (2002)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2004)
* Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance) (2005)

i used to play the ty games (at least the first 2, they kind of blur) when i worked at a small game store. they weren't half bad. such a shame.

 

[bishoptl]

I can hear the music in my head immediately upon seeing that .gif - good luck Gaz, and everyone else affected.

 

[Speevy]

Has anyone compiled a list of every studio that has closed or been hit with massive layoffs this generation? This is horrible.

 

[MAtgS]

Anyone else sensing a reoccuring theme going with the studio closing?

Free Radical Design: Haze bombed, was working on Battlefront 3, Lucasarts pulls project, goes under & bought out by Crytek.
Factor 5: Liar bombed, was rumored to be working on Rogue Squadron 4, but ultimately closes down.
Pandemic: Made the best selling Star Wars game, an even better selling sequel, was later closed down by EA.
Krome: Made the best selling version of an even better selling Star Wars game, didn't the sequel, has now closed.

& there was that post of a former EA employee spelling doom & gloom for The Old Republic, which if it bombs, would easily mean the demise of Bio-Ware.