Capcom Shutters Dead Rising Studio, Capcom Vancouver

Capcom Vancouver has been shut down. The studio, which was best known for its work on the Dead Rising series and the short-lived Puzzle Fighter mobile game, has ceased operations effective today, September 18, and its current projects have been cancelled.

"Capcom is currently reviewing the allocation of its development resources that support the production of world-class content," a Capcom spokesperson told GameSpot. "To support this objective, new R&D facilities and annual hiring have been underway at the Osaka headquarters. In consideration of this process, as a result of reviewing titles in development at Capcom Vancouver, Capcom has decided to cancel the development projects at this studio and will concentrate development of major titles in Japan.

"As part of this overall direction, the CV studio will suspend operations, effective today, so the current staff will be laid off and the office will be closed. We appreciate the hard work and contributions of all the studio team members in creating unforgettable gameplay experiences for the Dead Rising series and Puzzle Fighter."

The last several months have been tumultuous for the studio. Back in February, the developer was hit by a wave of layoffs that impacted approximately 30% of its workforce. That also coincided with the reported cancellation of an unannounced project. Then, in April, Capcom announced it was ceasing support for Puzzle Fighter less than six months after it debuted on iOS and Android.

Capcom hasn't formally announced a new installment of Dead Rising, so the future of the series remains unclear. Its most recent release, Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package, launched for PS4 last December. It packaged 2016's Dead Rising 4 with all of its DLC, along with some new bonus content like the Capcom Heroes mode, in which protagonist Frank West can wear costumes of other Capcom characters.