Confounding Factor goes down with the ship

Sources with close connections to the development pipeline of Galleon, the long-awaited adventure title from Confounding Factor, say the studio founded by Lara Croft creators Toby Gard and Paul Douglas will cease to exist when all tasks are completed on the Xbox title.

Confounding Factor was founded in April of 1997 by Gard and Douglas, shortly after the first Tomb Raider title shipped (in late ’96). The two left Tomb Raider developer Core Design after being instructed by the studio’s owners to turn around a TR sequel in under 12 months--the two were not interested in producing a sequel under such a rigid schedule.

The then-untitled Galleon was first slated for a December 1999 release, but delay after delay pushed the development cycle to where it is today.

When contacted, the game's US publisher was unable to comment on the future of Confounding Factor, but an Atlus USA spokesperson did state that the title was now slated for release stateside in early August, substantially sooner than previously expected. The game has already been released in Europe.