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Report: Stormfront shutting down

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Apr 1, 2008 5:10 pm PT

San Rafael-based developer of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Blood Wake said to be closing due to economic hardships.

After roughly two decades in business, the development house behind the 1991 Neverwinter Nights, Blood Wake, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is shutting down.

Earlier today, industry trade site Gamasutra cited multiple unnamed sources in reporting that the San Rafeal, California-based studio is in the process of halting operations. That report was then confirmed with a representative of the development house by Next Gen.

"Frankly, we didn't get pitched, and the project [we were working on] made no revenue," the representative told the trade site, adding, "The economy is such that the projects that we weren't winning, ended."

Although Stormfront's portfolio of games spanned numerous genres, it returned time and again to fantasy worlds of swords and sorcery. The studio's participation in the genre includes the original 1991 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter Nights game for the PC, an early online role-playing game for which it earned an Emmy earlier this year. (A 2002 version of Neverwinter Nights was developed by BioWare, with a 2006 sequel developed by Obsidian Entertainment.)

Stormfront would return to the Dungeons & Dragons brand again with Al Qadim: The Genie's Curse (1994), Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001), and Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (2004). It also earned a name for itself making games based on feature films such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Eragon, and its last game, the February release The Spiderwick Chronicles.

The company also had a history of sports games, having created installments of NASCAR and Madden for Electronic Arts, as well as the Tony LaRussa baseball series. Though that series may have died, LaRussa kept his ties to the studio in the form of a seat on Stormfront's board of directors.

GameSpot's inquiries have gone unreturned by Stormfront as of this writing.

45 Comments

  • sdauz

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 10:32 pm PT

    EA just became a little bit more powerful? lol

  • jakob_187

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 9:53 pm PT

    Definitely some of the worst news in a while. I can't say I was a huge fan of Demon Stone, as it felt like a very blatant rip-off of Two Towers, but it happened to be one of the strongest story-based games to come out in a LONG time. Sadly, the company got tapped based on their fame from Two Towers and not their earlier work, and in turn, they had to eat making crappers like Eragon and Spiderwick Chronicles.

  • footfoe2

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 1:56 pm PT

    to bad i thought they made the best Hack 'n slash games out there

  • majidok

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 1:55 pm PT

    Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor , Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone , Two towers . Wow , sad . Very sad . Losing a job is never easy , even if your hideo kojima and you lose your job and you know that a second after that news breaks out your cell phones going to ring with a new job , it still has an emotional impact . Im sorry for the studio and the people who worked there . I hope they find a job very soon .

  • KLONE360

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 1:39 pm PT

    Well that means, there games must suk big time

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 12:24 pm PT

    It makes you wonder how it happens....do they know its coming? Or do they just show up one day to see the locks have been changed. Never would I ever want to work in the gaming industry. One min your on top of the world, the next your out of business.

    Give it a month and all the good people from SF will have started a new place fast with some VC money.

  • awesomeboy05

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 11:51 am PT

    I remember Stronghold from the early 90's what an awesome city-building game.

  • 60fps

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 10:58 am PT

    "I was hoping this was about the white supremacist website shutting down. No such luck."

    That's what I thought. I don't know why you got all those negatives though. It's sad when people support that crap.

  • Raivon

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 10:45 am PT

    Very sad to see this happen .

  • BigDaddy973

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 10:02 am PT

    That is sad to see

  • VenomRitual

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 9:10 am PT

    i did like a few movie games. SP2 and the two towers(GBA version). sad to see them go

  • tsiper

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 8:56 am PT

    Bummer, This is why no one should make a movie game. They are the kiss of death unfortunately there hasn't been a really good one yet. Good luck employees at stormfront I really hope you are able to get jobs right away someplace else you are a talented bunch of industry veterans. Sad to see this happen after so many years in business.

  • geist9049

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 7:21 am PT

    the company have gone bust but im sure the programmers and designers will easily find new companies and projects to do. they are the important part of the gaming world, not so much the company itself

  • Gruug

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 7:04 am PT

    U.S. Presidents have about as much to do with the economy as I have to do with making computer games....which is absolutely nothing.

  • Cabal23

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 6:51 am PT

    Hey poopplayer, get a clue and take an economics class before you come here and get slagged by people who actually have completed a college course or two. And if you have and still find yourself making such idiotic comments, please don't make us suffer through your dribble. Bush had nothing to do with a game company that hasn't really done much to stay in the game, from closing. You are a dolt.

  • markharris31

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 5:18 am PT

    Who's the moron talking about Bush and the economy? He didn't buy a bunch of houses he couldn't afford or sign off on mortgages to people who can't pay them. For crying out loud read a frickin book and quit spouting the crap you see on the "news" channels.

    On another note, sad to see a developer close. They had some fun games in the past, but nothing they made recently is sellling. I'm sure they will find jobs, though, since they are industry vets and the video game industry continues to thrive despite a slow economy.

  • Nocturnal15

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 5:06 am PT

    That sucks. Blood wake and LOTR:The Two Towers were both fun games. I hope those that lostt their jobs can find new ones shortly. This isnt the best time not to have a job.

  • Fat_Boy_PT

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 3:43 am PT

    too bad. Always sad to see this happen

  • RandomBeast

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 3:24 am PT

    NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know who these guys are or what's going on really, but I like to be dramatic from time to time.

  • itBit

    Posted Apr 2, 2008 2:35 am PT

    damn ....

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