While this sucks, at least Epic was good enough to do the right thing and give everyone a severance package. A lot, like THQ, don't/didn't get that.
Impossible Studios shut down
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Studio made up of former Big Huge Games employees closed six months after it opened, Infinity Blade: Dungeons on hold.
Epic Games has closed Impossible Studios just six months after the unit was formed in August. The Hunt Valley, Maryland, outfit was staffed by former Big Huge Games developers and was working on Infinity Blade: Dungeons. That game is now on hold.
"When former members of Big Huge Games approached Epic last year, we saw the opportunity to help a great group of people while putting them to work on a project that needed a team. It was a bold initiative and the Impossible folks made a gallant effort, but ultimately it wasn’t working out for Epic," company founder Tim Sweeney said in a statement.
Staff at Impossible Studios find themselves out of a job for the second time in the past year, following the closure of Big Huge Games last May.
Sweeney said affected staffers will receive three months of severance pay and the opportunity to create a new company with the Impossible Studios logo.
The closure of Impossible Studios means Epic Games now operates seven studios around the world. These include its headquarters in Cary, North Carolina; Chair Entertainment in Salt Lake City, Utah; People Can Fly in Warsaw, Poland; Epic Games Korea in Seoul, Korea; Epic Games Japan in Yokohama, Japan; and Epic Games Seattle.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
110 comments
If thats not a cue to change the company name i don't know what is lol,still a dam shame for the guys though.
Lets hope that, that big headed Cliff Bliszinski with stupid ideas of starting his own studio is watching all this events
4 Like In other news Impossible Studios staff split up to start Jinxed Games, Cursed Studios & Bad Luck Entertainment.
@freestyler_85 Still wishing someone would do a proper sequel to that game, hell I would still play the original if I could find it.
Wow... just, wow, I am nearly speechless, yet another reason why joining up with a bigger devolper/publisher isn't always a good idea...
Well at least they are giving them the chance to use that logo. To me that logo doesn't demonstrate impossible, it demonstrate freedom. Be free developers and create some awesome IPs away from those corporate idiots. There's always room for more indie-developers.
@leeko_link You realize game development costs money? Most studios can't afford to make a game on their own.
Well they could always start small and eventually grow from there, Kickstarter exist for a reason. They could developed a project and request for donation to help them get started. I mean c'mon even Peter Molyneux who already made millions out of his OS titles still ask for more money on Kickstarter to fund most of his projects.
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3 Like @ZexionLuv And the point of this demeaning statement is? Have you ever been out of a job before?
1 Like @chronocommander Obviously you can't get a joke. The joke is that the studio didn't really have time to get fans or a reputation since they only formed 6 months ago and didn't make any games, so their closure will not really affect the industry.
1 Like The industry is brutal, they didnt conform to corporate bullshit. Like dumbed down shooters ie Gears of War.
1 Like These developers just can't catch a break. That's unfortunate because KOA was awesome. Hopefully they find some work elsewhere soon.
AP STYLE! Maryland should read "Hunt Valley, Md."
On a side note, I think you do a kick @$$ job, Eddie. The amount of content you post daily is amazing.
Maybe if they had called themselves "Possible Studios" they'd still be around... *rimshot*
the problem is many studios using the UDK engine if the over pass the selled copies they charge an ridicule obscene amount of money for royalties and in some cases studios are force to shut down because they can keep up with the Operational cost or keep its complete staff
10 Like Epic should be the ones shut down. They haven't put out a decent game since when, the first couple Unreal Tournaments around 1999-2000 for PC? Now all they release are generic set piece 3rd person shooters.
@Dumachum I think a more accurate statement is that they're failing to improve and innovate past the standard GOW formula. When you look at it, Gears of War isn't so much generic as it is redundant. It's a lot like COD in that it set trends in its respective genre and now feels generic because every game has incorporated elements from it or aped it entirely. Not that GOW was really entirely original, it just streamlined and perfected all of its mechanics.
@Dumachum Dont forget Rise of Nations possibly one of the most underrated, in my opinion RTS of all time.
@FreedomPrime @Dumachum It most definitely is. They just took Unreal characters and gave them a back story. Cliff B said in an interview that he aped the cover mechanic from Kill.Switch.
@SnakeEyesX80 I was just about to say this Gears is a clone of other 3rd Person shooters and gets so much love for no reason. I admit the games look nice and have ok characters but still being a 3rd person shooter fan myself it's nothing new
@Dumachum They're still milking Gears of War, which is a horrible game with a horrible community if you ask me.
7 Like Unfortunately for you, opinions vary. Epic Games have made several great games since Unreal Tournament. Maybe you meant the PC only.
Due to the success of Gears of War, the studio was awarded:
- IGN's "Best Developer for Xbox 360"
- Official Xbox Magazine's "Best Developer of the Year"
- Spike TV's[14]
- "Best Studio of the Year"
- "Best Shooter"
- "Best Graphic"
- "Best Multiplayer Game"
Also games like Infinity Blade 1 & 2 and Shadow Complex got critic reviews.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/shadow-complex
@blackace Shadow Complex & Infinity Blade weren't developed by Epic, they just happen to own the developer who created them. Gears of War is the only game, other than Unreal, that Epic has actually made.
@SnakeEyesX80 valve does the same thing you moron.... are you gonna save valve makes bad games too?
@Bellum_Sacrum @blackace @Dumachum
You have the whole internet to troll around in and still you end up here... wtf man.
4 Like More proof that shutting down Curt Schilling's bungling crew was a wise decision in the first place. Apparently he hired only incompetent developers ( most likely to compliment his own talents ). EPIC gave them a chance to prove they weren't worthless, and they blew it. Big surprise.
@mrboone01 Yeah. I wish combat in every RPG sucked as bad KoA. It would be a big improvement. Big Huge failed because of an unrealistic business plan. Didn't realize the devs also did the financing.
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