Iron Lore closes doors

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.