Dead Rising Studio Capcom Vancouver Hit By Layoffs

Capcom Vancouver, the studio best known for its work on the Dead Rising series, has been hit by a wave of layoffs, the company has confirmed to GameSpot. This reportedly coincides with the cancellation of an unannounced game, although Dead Rising itself has not been axed.

"Capcom Vancouver has undergone a restructure which has impacted approximately 30% of the studio, as part of its regular periodic assessment of upcoming projects and overall studio goals," a Capcom spokesperson tells GameSpot. This follows a report by Kotaku saying that a "significant number of staff" had been laid off, an unannounced project canceled, and the scope on the next Dead Rising scaled back.

Capcom did not address the reported cancellation or any changes to Dead Rising, though some now-ex Vancouver staffers have acknowledged the layoffs on Twitter, including community manager Jeffery Simpson. The company does say that it will continue support for both Dead Rising and the mobile adaptation of Puzzle Fighter released last year.

"The team is continuing to work hard to support the recent release of Puzzle Fighter for mobile and is dedicated to its flagship Dead Rising series," Capcom's statement concludes. It has not yet officially announced a new Dead Rising game.

Capcom Vancouver is the former Blue Castle Games, whose earlier games included The Bigs series of arcade-style MLB games. Capcom acquired the studio in 2010 and renamed it following its work on Dead Rising 2 and its spin-offs. Since then, it's developed Dead Rising 3 and Dead Rising 4, in addition to the aforementioned Puzzle Fighter game. (The original Dead Rising was developed by one of Capcom's Japanese studios.)

Dead Rising 4 originally released as an Xbox One and PC exclusive in 2016 before finally making it to PS4 this past December. Following its original launch, Capcom said Dead Rising 4 "underperformed" and acknowledged the "more approachable" nature of the game was not well-received by some players. The game was also criticized for its multiplayer support, which abandoned the cooperative campaign of the previous game in favor of a standalone mode.