Radical Entertainment shut down by Activision
Today has seen rumours followed by an official statement released on some bad news for Prototype developer, Radical Entertainment.
Vancouver-based dev, Radical Entertainment, have worked on 2012’s Prototype 2 and its prequel with Activision, as well as older titles such as The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and The Simpsons Hit & Run, pre-Activision.
Radical’s latest game, Prototype 2, received a pretty average reception and it seems this wasn’t good enough for publisher, Activision, who are now heavily downsizing the developer and seeing a cease in production of any games from them. Here’s Activision’s official statement on the matter:
[quote]Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience. 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.[/quote]
It’s always sad to see a developer shut down – especially one who clearly have a lot of talent – but huge publishers like Activision can be pretty demanding in terms of sales (no matter how much wealth they’re already sat on) and that’s, sadly, just how things go down sometimes.
bleachorange
June 28, 2012 @ 6:35 pm
quite honestly, if the games pay for themselves, why worry too much. sort of like a niche market. you’re not gonna make bukus of money, but you’ll make enough to break even and a little extra on the side.
synopsis
June 30, 2012 @ 7:03 pm
I agree. “The best game ever made” undoubtedly never was made due to things like this. These executives for these companies don’t complain about 1-4 percent gains on investments their accounts make, but for some reason its not the same with the games their companies make. Same people who won’t even give you the whole game thats on a disc, you gotta pay for that right on top of paying for the game itself. Way too greedy.
Taylor Parolini
June 29, 2012 @ 12:08 pm
This makes me sad, as I really liked Prototype 2 and thought it was a big improvement over the last title. Maybe the series will live on through another developer, but I doubt it. What a shame.