Acclaim Closes Studios

According to Computer and Video Games, Acclaim has started to refocus its development efforts, and in the process has closed the doors on the Probe development team. Known for its work on Re-Volt, Forsaken, and the Extreme G Series, Probe was one of Acclaim's more productive development teams, developing for the PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo 64.

Probe's current work on Ferrari Grand Prix for the PlayStation 2 will be moved to Acclaim's Knightsbridge UK facilities. Acclaim is said to be discussing severance packages and job placement with the members of the Probe team that will not make the move. Acclaim is one of many companies that are struggling due to the high cost of shifting development resources over to the next-generation of consoles and PC hardware.

In addition, reports posted by Adrenaline Vault and the UK site Fragtastic suggest that two other studios will be closed or sold, including the Acclaim Austin, Texas, studio and the Teeside (formerly Iguana) studio, which was working on a console-destined sequel to Shadowman.