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Wario64 · Jun 28, 2012

Update: Confirmed

https://twitter.com/rbridgett/status/218417068201095169

https://twitter.com/jimreilly/statuses/218428231039201280

Actvision: "Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience."

"Our preference would be to keep the team together, however, it is too early to say anything further at this time.”

https://www.theverge.com/gaming/201...cal-entertainment-rumored-to-be-shutting-down

"Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience," according to an Activision statement. "Radical is a very talented team of developers, however, we have explored various options for the studio, including a potential sale of the business, and have made a difficult conclusion through the consultation process that the only remaining option is a significant reduction in staff. As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward."

-----

http://kotaku.com/5922129/report-prototype-creators-shutting-down

Radical Entertainment, the Canada-based game studio behind games like Prototype and Scarface, has shut its doors.

Audio designer Rob Bridgett, formerly of the studio, confirmed the news on Twitter today.

Earlier, sources from various game studios contacted Kotaku to inform us of the news. We also saw chatter on Twitter suggesting that Radical has indeed been shut down.

I called Radical Entertainment's Vancouver-based offices for comment and nobody picked up. When I tried several extensions, nobody answered the phone.

https://twitter.com/KingerThinks/status/218420691668709376

https://twitter.com/ozo/status/218409085228421120

Carl · Jun 28, 2012

Bitch, i was just about to post this -_-

RIP Radical.

darkwing · Jun 28, 2012

so many gaming related jobs lost :|

GK86 · Jun 28, 2012

What a sad generation. Hope they land on their feet if true.

VeryGooster · Jun 28, 2012

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is an awesome game.

Sho Nuff · Jun 28, 2012

Oh FFS. Totally saw this happening

I Stalk Alone · Jun 28, 2012

I thought prototype was a good seller?

vaelic · Jun 28, 2012

I Stalk Alone said:
I thought prototype was a good seller?

not at all

Carl · Jun 28, 2012

Simpsons Hit and Run was definitely their best game IMO

Loved every minute of that

I Stalk Alone said:
I thought prototype was a good seller?

Closing it so they can spend more money on COD

Combichristoffersen · Jun 28, 2012

Didn't really like Prototype, but best of wishes for those affected. Hope they'll land on their feet and get new jobs ASAP.

outunderthestars · Jun 28, 2012

3 canceled games and 2 expensive yet underwhelming games this generation. I can only imagine the money that they have lost over the last four years.

They were not long for this world.

SlipperySlope · Jun 28, 2012

Holy cow has this generation been a disaster for developers. It's only getting worse and worse

darkwing · Jun 28, 2012

I Stalk Alone said:
I thought prototype was a good seller?

Prototype 2 sold more than the first one?

Shiggy · Jun 28, 2012

They had a thousand rounds of layoffs :/

bishoptl · Jun 28, 2012

Confirmed. Sad news for Vancouver...and friends of mine who were employed there.

Diddy Kong · Jun 28, 2012

Damn... best of luck to everyone.

FoneBone · Jun 28, 2012

Sadly not surprising after Prototype 2 flopped so hard.

herod · Jun 28, 2012

HD claims another victim.

KageMaru · Jun 28, 2012

My thoughts go out to those who are effected by this, hope they land on their feet. =(

herod said:
HD claims another victim.

Yeah too bad they didn't make Prototype 1 & 2 for the Wii, that would have surely saved them.

V_Ben · Jun 28, 2012

Go fuck yourselves Activision. Ugh.

canedaddy · Jun 28, 2012

Sorry for those who will be losing jobs. I loved Hulk Ultimate Destruction.

shinobi602 · Jun 28, 2012

SlipperySlope said:
Holy cow has this generation been a disaster for developers. It's only getting worse and worse

Doesn't the terrible economy play a role as well?

outunderthestars · Jun 28, 2012

herod said:
Poor management claims another victim.

fixed that for you.

darkwing · Jun 28, 2012

FoneBone said:
Sadly not surprising after Prototype 2 flopped so hard.

I felt they should have done an original IP than doing a sequel to that game

Always-honest · Jun 28, 2012

fuuuu..So many game industry related people without a job this year.....

LiK · Jun 28, 2012

Ridley327 · Jun 28, 2012

The writing was clearly on the wall after Spider-Man 4 was cancelled and especially after we found out just how poorly Prototype 2 opened, but this still sucks pretty hard.

Kifimbo · Jun 28, 2012

Wondering if Beenox could be next. Doubt it with those subsidies, but it's still Activision.

Ridley327 · Jun 28, 2012

Kifimbo said:
Wondering if Beenox could be next. Doubt it with those subsidies, but it's still Activision.

Beenox is safe if only because of them being the Spider-Man team, but who knows what will happen when the license finally lands back at Disney.

Father_Brain · Jun 28, 2012

Who didn't see this coming a mile away after Prototype 2's NPD numbers? But a fucking shame regardless.

SolidSnakex · Jun 28, 2012

That's the 10th studio that Activision has shut down this generation.

Keyser Soze · Jun 28, 2012

Was not a fan of much of the recent stuff, but Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was amazing.

So was Mario is Missing

SlipperySlope · Jun 28, 2012

shinobi602 said:
Doesn't the terrible economy play a role as well?

The games industry was fine in 2008 when shit hit the fan. Entertainment in general doesn't really get affected by the economy much. Look at how much The Avengers made.

It's a structural problem in the industry.

The Bookerman · Jun 28, 2012

Sorry that my good friends Harry and Gerald lost their jobs today... Shit man.

Deadly Cyclone · Jun 28, 2012

I liked Prototype.

herod · Jun 28, 2012

outunderthestars said:
fixed that for you.

Same thing.

cuyahoga · Jun 28, 2012

outunderthestars said:
3 canceled games

Actually, it's four by my count — Scarface 2, Treadstone, Crash and Spider-Man 4. Though I think code and stuff SM4 became the base for Amazing Spider-Man.

Samurai_Heart · Jun 28, 2012

A great shame, hope the employesles get picked up by other developers.

BY2K · Jun 28, 2012

God, this gen is without mercy.

And I don't see the next one being any improvement.

Jhoan · Jun 28, 2012

Damn that sucks. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the best super hero game I played last gen; I loved every second of it. They shall sorely be missed. Hopefully someone picks these guys up; they know how to make extremely fun sandbox games. Never played the Prototype games.

ShellyDeKiller · Jun 28, 2012

Next generation will be interesting...

Carl · Jun 28, 2012

Wait, these guys made Scarface: The World is Yours? I loved that game

Warm Machine · Jun 28, 2012

Worked there between 1996 and 1998

Ridley327 · Jun 28, 2012

cuyahoga said:
Actually, it's four by my count Scarface 2, Treadstone, Crash and Spider-Man 4.

Man, if Crash's future wasn't already looking bad enough...

Activision should just sell Crash to Sony at this point; they're clearly not interested in doing anything with it ever again.

scy · Jun 28, 2012

I'll be honest, I forgot Prototype 2 came out :|

GoofsterStud · Jun 28, 2012

Never bought one of there games...

*Shrug*

I am part of the problem, I guess...

Ridley327 · Jun 28, 2012

scy said:
I'll be honest, I forgot Prototype 2 came out :|

You definitely weren't alone!

Wthermans · Jun 28, 2012

Never played one of their games. Hope their employees can rebound.

The Bookerman · Jun 28, 2012

cuyahoga said:
Actually, it's four by my count — Scarface 2, Treadstone, Crash and Spider-Man 4. Though I think code and stuff SM4 became the base for Amazing Spider-Man.

Nope. Stuff was used in Prototype 2.

Nirolak · Jun 28, 2012

I had a feeling this would happen.

Expensive Activision franchise + not extremely high sales usually results in a shutdown.

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