Iron Lore closes doors

Titan Quest developer shuts down game-development operations after failing to find financing for its next project.

Eight years and two games later, Iron Lore Entertainment has announced today that it has closed its doors and will no longer pursue game development. The studio, which was cofounded in 2000 by ex-Ensemble cofounder and Age of Empires cocreator Brian Sullivan, is best known for its work on the 2006 action role-playing hybrid Titan Quest and its 2007 expansion, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, both of which were published by THQ.

In a post to its Web site, Iron Lore said that financial issues were the primary cause of the studio's abrupt shuttering. "It is with great regret that we must announce that as of close of business Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Iron Lore Entertainment has ceased active game development," reads the post. "Several unrelated events occurred which resulted in Iron Lore being unable to secure funding for its next project."

Iron Lore has also been credited as codeveloper of THQ's third expansion to the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of real-time strategy games, Soulstorm. It is unclear whether the game's release, which is currently scheduled for March, will be affected by Iron Lore's closing, and THQ had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

82 Comments

  • WulfenMortys

    Posted Jun 13, 2009 4:10 pm PT

    Personally, I hold no love for Iron Lore. They made a series of boring "action RPGs" (read hack-and-slash grind-fest tragedies) and they quite nearly ruined a Warhammer game (ouch) to boot. So, please, there are much better devs out there and another forgettable company going out the door is a blessing.

  • Bloodwolf_19

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 12:28 am PT

    I don't understand how a company like Iron Lore should have to shut down, an yet other cornier game producers get to stay in business. Iron Lore made a HUGE break-through with Titan Quest, it blew away Diablo hands down. it offered so much more than blizzard did. The thing that also always made Iron Lore cool, was the fact that every title they worked on offered customizations an map-making options. When did Blizzard ever offer that kind of choices? W.O.W. is cool, but there are alot of people who like RPG/Adventure games an now we'll never get to see how far they could've improved, expanded, an re-shaped the genre that : " Titan Quest, Diablo, Sacred: Underworld, Loki, " & misc. are all a part of. I have played all the games Iron Lore has been apart of, an it will be a shame not to see anything more from them. I hope that some day a company will see their potential, " i.e. like SEGA." that the have wonderful assets to give an hope that Iron Lore rises again.

  • amd700

    Posted May 19, 2008 12:15 pm PT

    All gamers should fight piracy and fukin pirates, or there will be no pc games in the future.

  • CastorT

    Posted May 7, 2008 12:13 pm PT

    Sucks

  • viet1125

    Posted May 2, 2008 11:14 am PT

    Poor Iron Lore, Titan Quest is not bad but those who finish the entire game in Legendary must be very patient!

  • Jorlen

    Posted Apr 18, 2008 5:20 am PT

    It's sad when such a promising new developer that makes a great game has to close its doors like this. Whatever the reasons may be, it's really unfortunate that it had to come to this. Titan Quest is great and I was ready to buy any future game Iron Lore was to release. PC gaming industry is harsh I guess

  • tony2077ca

    Posted Apr 8, 2008 11:56 am PT

    we should make all pc games unpiratable that would help to kick the pc industary out of its nose dive

  • jakob_187

    Posted Apr 7, 2008 3:33 pm PT

    Still crappy news...

  • rgsniper1

    Posted Apr 5, 2008 10:36 pm PT

    well at least it had nothing to do with the fact that most people would rather pirate a game than buy it now a days.

  • td_tempest

    Posted Mar 17, 2008 11:58 am PT

    Soulstorm is actually not very good, considering Ironlore was an excellent developer.

  • Sins-of-Mosin

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 12:19 pm PT

    Titan Quest was a good game but had a small following. Some blame the very tiny marketing that was done by THQ. If they were helping on Soulstorm, wouldn't they be around to cash in on their work? Did they try to cut costs or such because I don't remember reading anything about this company till now.

  • hatefull

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:51 am PT

    quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=42663
    expect less and less pc games

  • cln_kickass

    Posted Mar 3, 2008 8:08 am PT

    tis a shame seemed like an amazing company i hope it doesnt effect soulstorm though but it might make it the last of the series

  • VercettiTommyy

    Posted Mar 3, 2008 4:55 am PT

    that's such a shame,they were such good guys

  • searingSKITSO

    Posted Mar 3, 2008 2:33 am PT

    to bad. kinda sux when these guys can berly stay open and companys like epic and infinity ward are making millions... i hope this is not the start of a trend that will limit the content that we will see in the future video games.

  • blackhammer77

    Posted Mar 2, 2008 4:27 pm PT

    A real pity....

  • stinger822

    Posted Mar 2, 2008 4:13 pm PT

    It's a shame a fine studio such as this has closed, hopefully the staff all get picked up by other studios

  • Avenger1324

    Posted Mar 2, 2008 2:54 am PT

    That's a big shame. Titan Quest was a really good game, and the best Diablo style game since Diablo 2. I was really hoping there would be a TQ2

  • higherspirit

    Posted Mar 1, 2008 5:41 pm PT

    Bad news but this won't affect Soulstorm that much, since they were only "...codeveloper of THQ's third expansion..." as stated in the article. I'm sure THQ will support this expansion since it benefits their own interests ;-)

  • GreyMarine

    Posted Mar 1, 2008 5:31 am PT

    Wha... Wha.... What!!??? They have close for only 8 years? OK Ok? Who's the 'mister nice guy' that have done 2 them?

  • the_dead_killer

    Posted Mar 1, 2008 5:16 am PT

    oh no . Titan Quest was one of my best games
    think of the people who will lose there jobs

  • TheBlaklyon

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 9:30 pm PT

    That makes me sad... This is the same thing that happened to Bullfrog the team that created Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper. Soulstorm might get released but, What if the Fans want more after that?

  • Timythenerd

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 6:39 pm PT

    Bummer!!!! Lets just hope that this doesn't effect Soulstorm or any other expansions to come in the future!

  • ForceHawk

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 4:40 pm PT

    I am very disappointed that they have closed their doors, I was hoping for another expansion or sequel to Titan Quest. This game was exceptional.
    I have spent many hours playing the game and experimenting with the quest editor.

  • spade_of_voodoo

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    I don't really care for titan quest but if this affects soulstorm in anyway i'll go all limp and die,....dawn of war is my most favourite game series in the world.

  • dark_harpy

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 12:30 pm PT

    too bad. i loved titan quest.

  • phantom5242 posted Feb 29, 2008 10:55 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    phantom5242

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 10:55 am PT (hide)

    Good Riddance. We don't need another crapfest "action RPG".

  • Obliterati

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 7:17 am PT

    Eh, that sucks. I thought TQ was a pretty good game. Well, I 'm sure a big gun like Brian Sullivan will have no trouble finding work...hopefully he takes a few of his former employees with him. I sure as hell hope this doesn't foul up Soulstorm.

  • maxdx

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 6:38 am PT

    I love TQ and this hurts to hear about TQ creator Iron Lore Ent. is shutting down their labs.
    Will they sell the company to some other giant such as UBIsoft.

  • zoan06

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 6:13 am PT

    Awww man.... that sucks! TQ is a great game. You'd think they would have found funding...

    Dammit...

  • azurik15

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 4:45 am PT

    İ miss İron Lore Studio.Very sadly Titan Quest is good game.

  • zhivago_x

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 4:03 am PT

    A sad news for hack & slash genre

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 3:50 am PT

    @DiabolicalX
    Lol! Nice.

  • Oom_Gert

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 1:14 am PT

    No.. no... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! This is sad news indeed. I think I'll go home now and cry like a little girl...

  • Targzissian

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 12:59 am PT

    What about Titan Quest 2? Who's going to make it now? I need it... And they'd better support camera rotation this time, like any 3D RPG should.

  • DiabolicalX

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 11:01 pm PT

    Soul Storm will still be released...if not I'll scream...in a manly way...

  • bobinho22

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 9:59 pm PT

    omg.. no TQ 2 or another expansion???

  • eva89

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 9:50 pm PT

    its really sad to see they need money that bad.....staff for hire and tools for sale

  • Lonelynight

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 9:30 pm PT

    Soul Storm would probably still get release

  • O2k4

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 8:50 pm PT

    Really sad... they even put an email where you can hire staff from IL ex employees, putting their tools of development for sale... man its obvious that they need money really bad. Its like a yard sale. I can't help but to feel sorry for them. Such a waste of great talent I liked TQ and IM, and have high expectations for SS. Good luck guys. Sadly its the name of the game of the industry.

  • Slashgibber

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 8:31 pm PT

    This sucks, I liked Iron Lore

  • OkuLaris

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 7:20 pm PT

    This is terrible news, thats all I gotta say. TQ and expansion are one of my fav all time coop rpg's for sure. I am saddened by this news. : (

  • kokonut1971

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 6:19 pm PT

    read this, This will explain why Iron Lore had to finally shut down in the end....it can't be any clearer than that... -------------------------------------------------------------http://www.titanquest.net/forums/questions-developers/17162-patch-news.html

  • Snaptrap

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:35 pm PT

    THQ is having financial difficulties of their own,

    Not really. THQ had been publishing some very good titles for the last three years that have done quite well considering that most of them were for PC and subjected to rampant piracy.

    The reason why THQ doesn't help them is because they want the extra funds to keep themselves from landing in the same position.

  • cytheh

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    wtf hell! no!!! don't affect the release of the game!!!! ive been waiting for more than 1 year for soul storm!!!!!

  • Diernes

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:21 pm PT

    and as for THQ, bollocks!

    because of them IL werent given the funds to patch the game and fix issues they wanted too with immortal throne!

  • Diernes

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:16 pm PT

    NOOOOOOO!

    This was one of the most promising developer studio's of recent times.

    I thought Titan quest and its expantion where brilliant, polished AAA titles and severly underated.

    Damn you THQ, this is one studio you should have given more support too.

    A very sad day for gaming, and for all our sakes gamespot you need to stop sucking up to the big studios and give the little guys some respect.

    titan quest was a much better game than they made it out to be, 7.9? bah, its much better than that.

  • Canitbe

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 3:27 pm PT

    :
    aww, why didnt someone help them out... THQ?


    THQ is having financial difficulties of their own, they can't bail out every developer that's contracted to do work for them.

    Iron Lore actually went out of their way to say THQ has been a great partner to them throughout the years, etc.

  • Canitbe

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 3:22 pm PT

    :
    Financial problems because.......


    Over inflated cost of the production staff.

  • Ares_fts

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 3:22 pm PT

    It's a sad day for gamers through out the world. There's a memorial thread at TQ.net http://www.titanquest.net/forums/off-topic/22058-official-ironlore-memorial-thread.html

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