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Radical Entertainment has closed


SIMPLYMIDGET
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Prototype 2 developer shut down by Activision.

 

 

 

Radical Entertainment, the Canadian studio behind Prototype and Scarface: The World Is Yours, has closed.

The news was confirmed by various industry figures on Twitter, including the studio's audio designer Rob Bridgett, who tweeted: "RIP Radical Entertainment 1991-2012".

Then later, in a statement provided to Kotaku, Activision said:

"Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience.

"Radical is a very talented team of developers, however, we have explored various options for the studio, including a potential sale of the business, and have made a difficult conclusion through the consultation process that the only remaining option is a significant reduction in staff.

"As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward."

Radical Entertainment was formed in 1991, and acquired by Vivendi Games in 2005. The studio became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision following the firm's merger with Vivendi in 2007.

The company developed numerous open world hits, including popular PS2 title The Simpsons: Hit & Run, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Scarface: The World Is Yours and the Prototype series.

According to NPD data, the studio's most recent game, Prototype 2, was the highest-selling game of April 2012.

The studio was also reported to have been developing a sequel to Scarface, a new Crash Bandicoot title and a game based on Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity. All three were rumoured to have been cancelled by Activision.

Activision has closed a string of development studios in recent years.

In November 2010 the publisher shut down Blur-developer Bizarre Creations and Guitar Hero co-dev Budcat. Then, three months later, it closed LA-based 7 Studios.

 

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/prototype_2/news/radical_entertainment_has_closed.html

 

 

Prototype franchise hits end of the road

Activision has moved to close down developer Radical Entertainment. Radical, who has been best known for the Prototype franchise of late, is another victim of what is being referred to as the studio’s titles failing to find a broad commercial audience.

 

Despite Activision making what they call “substantial” investments in the Prototype IP, the two releases in the franchise didn’t really hit it big with gamers despite both titles receiving solid review scores. Activision claims that while they explored a number of options to keep the studio operational (including the sale of the studio), closing Radical was the only remaining option.

 

While Activision says that some of the Radical staff will remain with Activision to support and work on other projects, the studio as we know it today will no longer be developing new projects under the Radical banner. The studio was rumored to be working on a sequel to its Scarface title, as well as a new Crash Bandicoot title, and a rumored new title that was based on the works of Robert Ludlum (the author of the Bourne Identity). Activision is rumored to have pulled the plug on the development of these titles prior to the decision to close Radical.

 

While Radical has been best known for the Prototype franchise lately, the studio has had a string of hits on the PlayStation 2 Platform, including the Simpsons: Hit & Run, Scarface: The World is Yours, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and other titles since the studio opened in 1991. Activision acquired the developer 2007 after its purchase of Vivendi Games in 2005.

 

The closure of Radical is just one on the list of studios the publisher has closed. The publisher has continued to close a number of high profile and very successful studios as the company has streamlined operations and cut back on the number of titles that the company has published that were not successful. Bizarre Creations and Luxoflux are two of the studios that come to mind as successful studios that Activision closed.

 

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/27732-activision-closes-radical-entertainment

Edited by SIMPLYMIDGET
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Son of a bitch! Those cocksuckers killed off another great studio. :mad: I'm so damn tired of good developers getting canned and great franchises being cut short. It happened with Kingdoms of Amalur and now Prototype. WTF? These were good games. Activision can take their Call of Duty map packs and stuff them up their asses! :uzi:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its a shame realy, there been so many good or great gamestudio,s that have been closed or sold, now its Radical Entertainment, in the past the gamestudio behind The Saboteur,The Mercenaries 1 & 2 has been closed as well, they just had finished off The Saboteur. If i look back at my old game collection i see alot of gamestudio,s printed on the boxes that no longer exist either being sold out, closed or being intresgrated into another gamestudio.

I think Radical Entertainment did a great job with Prototype 1 & 2 and its clear they listened to the fans and added this into Prototype 2, its realy sad we probly not see another prototype anymore or in this case another Scarface game.

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  • 1 month later...

Really wish that they would have been able to include more dlc because this game has a lot of potential, and now will never see any more from Radical. IMO this is how a "superhero" type game should be done. When Heller is fully powered up, it's a blast screaming through the city wreaking havoc.

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  • 8 months later...
Son of a bitch! Those cocksuckers killed off another great studio. :mad: I'm so damn tired of good developers getting canned and great franchises being cut short. It happened with Kingdoms of Amalur and now Prototype. WTF? These were good games. Activision can take their Call of Duty map packs and stuff them up their asses! :uzi:

Personally, I have to agree. How did PROTOTYPE 2, the best game of our generation ('cept Final Fantasy o'course), get scrapped while CoD is just remaking the same game, slapping a different title on it and reselling it?

 

No offense to CoD, love the games, but honestly, they're all EXACTLY the SAME. Even hardcore CoD fans can admit that.

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Its a shame realy, there been so many good or great gamestudio,s that have been closed or sold, now its Radical Entertainment, in the past the gamestudio behind The Saboteur,The Mercenaries 1 & 2 has been closed as well, they just had finished off The Saboteur. If i look back at my old game collection i see alot of gamestudio,s printed on the boxes that no longer exist either being sold out, closed or being intresgrated into another gamestudio.

I think Radical Entertainment did a great job with Prototype 1 & 2 and its clear they listened to the fans and added this into Prototype 2, its realy sad we probly not see another prototype anymore or in this case another Scarface game.

Especially since, like you said, Radical made an effort and listened to the fans. Most studios never would do something like that, but Radical listened, and acted upon feedback.

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Personally, I have to agree. How did PROTOTYPE 2, the best game of our generation ('cept Final Fantasy o'course), get scrapped while CoD is just remaking the same game, slapping a different title on it and reselling it?

 

No offense to CoD, love the games, but honestly, they're all EXACTLY the SAME. Even hardcore CoD fans can admit that.

 

Prototype 2 one of the best games of our generation? I'm sorry don't get me wrong it was a decent game not groundbreaking or amazing even just solid there are far better games that deserve that title and it's not one of them. But on another note activision. Are only interested in making money I mean lets look at some of there other titles they released of late, the walking dead survival instinct and the amazing fast and furious showdown (sarcasm) and both these junk ass games made it in the top10 charts I mean seriously. At least EA make some effort in there games.

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