Split Second 2 Stalls on the Starting Grid as Black Rock Suffers Layoffs

29
Richard Walker

Bad news for Pure and Split/Second developer Black Rock Studio, as not only has Disney Interactive Studios cancelled the planned sequel for its critically well-received arcade racer, but the studio has also had its workforce cut by approximately 40 people, Game Informer reports.

Disney confirmed the Black Rock layoffs earlier today, telling Joystiq: "Disney Interactive Studios confirms a reduction of its workforce from its Brighton-based internal game development studio, Black Rock Studios. The studio will continue its work on its current project."

Apparently, the studio will now tackle one project at a time, but one of those won't be Split/Second 2, as an anonymous source states that it was canned in December. Bizarrely, Black Rock also hasn't had anything to do since Split/Second shipped as "Disney have been unable to provide us with a project to work on, and our concept pitches clearly haven't gone down well (despite there being many of them)."

A Pure sequel had also been touted, but was reportedly dropped by Disney. Black Rock Studios' remaining staff are apparently now working on a new title, which is described as being "promising" and "new and risky." Sounds intriguing. Hopefully, it'll make it to store shelves and generate the sales that the talented developer requires to survive.

Comments
29
  • Split/second 2 would be awesome
  • Split Second was SO good, and it makes me sad that the first time I hear of a sequel being made for it is when I find out it was already canceled.
  • And here I was so looking forward to Split/Second 2.
  • This is horrible! I was looking forward for the sequel....
  • im sorry but i hated game. The other cars were way to fast and always caught up to you no matter how far you were ahead. I am glad there not making another one. They should be making pure 2
  • #8 I'm also sorry, but you should've improved your driving. Split Second wasn't as hard as people imagine.
  • maybe if i would bought all the cars at the beginning it might not have been as hard. Like i said already they caught up way to fast for this to be any fun.
  • Love both S/S and Blur. The shame is that they came out at almost exactly the same time and both of their sales suffered to the point that neither of them will have sequels. In a word: shitty.
  • am i the only one who thought blur was better? either way they both didn't get the reactions they deserved, sequels for both would be welcome from me
  • The sling shot AI was annoying but it was still a really fun game. Blowing stuff up and screwing over your friends that are about to win is always a good time.
  • @8 I agree, the only reason I traded the game in before I was finished with it, was because of the rubber-banded racing.
  • i did like it up until the point that they catch up every time i had was way ahead. @10 i did love blur too but as all games it got old real fast.
  • I'd get split/ second 2. forst one was awesome fun. But not the AI
  • NNOOOOOO this is very disappointing. split/second was amazing and had everything you need, Fast CARS and Explosions. need a petition to get a sequel for s/s and blur. both great arcade racers
  • DAMN! I was just playing Split Second last night and was saying to my mate, I hope they do a second one! Im disappointed, and im even more disappointed that theres gonna be no PURE 2 either :( Disney can jog on man, if you want to do something useful then dont shove people like hannah montana down our throats you nauses.
  • Pure was good never played split second tho. I'll give it a whirl
  • S/S was one of my first 1000G games. This game was awesome, I think the biggest problem was, that Blur were out at the same time. Both of these games were pretty awesome. No wrong way driving, just a lot of fun. I will hope, taht there will be sequal for both these games.
  • @18 I think that was it's biggest problem too, although it wasn't just Blur. It released on the same day as Red Dead Redemption and Alan Wake. The worst part is nothing significant released in June or July of last year, imo if either or both were moved to June and/or July we'd have sequels to both being made. Instead Disney is laying people off and Bizarre Creations is closed. This sucks, both Blur and S/S deserve sequels, both were great games. Thanks to Disney and Activision being unable to pull their heads out of their asses on release schedules, they might of killed both series.
  • No Blur 2, S/S 2 or Mirrors Edge 2. I want my sequels goddamit. We get crud like ANOTHER Transformers (Movie Tie-In not WFC) but not these awesome games.
  • blur is so much better than s/s its an insult to compare the two. pure was a pretty game though
  • What a shame ! I find it hard to believe that DISNEY are having lay offs. I mean if they can shell out millions and millions for a movie I would think they would throw some support at there gaming company. With this move, it tells me that all they want is really simple movie tie in games. talk about holding a company back from greatness.
  • @22 - I guess so and seeing as parents and casuals lap those crappy games up then why bother to support a very talented dev? Stupid faceless corporations. The creative mind is at the mercy of the suit and gaming since becoming big business is hitting the shitter because of it. Closing down studios, lay offs etc all because a game doesnt make multi millions of dollars. This is why those of us who played games from the early 90s and earlier want our old games ported because they are not only (arguably) alot more fun but also kess stifled by business and fenerally more creative despite the limitations of the hardware. Sick of these generic war themes and "epic" soundtracks or worse, licensed music. Has there been musical scores for games these days that can equal Rayman or Streets of Rage in their originality? Unlrss its a Schmup then i dont think so. Sorry, ranted off :3
  • Split/Second was a fantastic game. I liked it more than Blur because I felt Blur to be a Mario Cart clone with licensed cars. Split on the other hand, had it's own unique twist on the Burnout formula. Not only can you crash cars into walls by ramming them, but you can call a damn 747 to take out every other car on a strip or make an entire suspension bridge collapse.
  • NFS shift gets a sequel, Crash time gets 3 sequels but Split second doesn't?? waaaaat!! SS was an awesome game with a unique gameplay twist... so was pure! Is there ever gonna be a good arcade/fun racer on 360?? love forza/f1/dirt but i always yern for something different like Twisted metal or Flatout etc. @22 - I agree 100%, its all about the benjamins nowa days - which is way Devs like Blackbox/valve/rockstar etc need to be praised for trying new things. @20 - I was looking forward to Mirrors edge 2 aswell!! Tha bastards
  • Splint/Second was nothing special. Played it on PC, but got boring real fast. Still feel for the ppl without job, hopefully someone will take them in:-)
  • WTF???!!! Split Second was awesome! Very disappointed with Disney canceling SS2!
  • Woah sucks to be them, I'm just round the corner from Brighton, I should pay them a visit sometime.
  • Wow, well fuck you very much Disney. Also, to those who are complaining about the AI, I think you just suck and can't handle the challenge. Are they too fast? Why not TRY A DIFFERENT CAR. I loved this game and the thought of it getting a story was kind of cool, I really wanted to know who those other people were. But alas, Disney has failed to impress me, again.
  • i have been searching for ages to find any trailers or in depth details on the sequel but though they even said to be continued they still managed to screw this up. go to this site if you still want to see ss2. this is a petition site agree and sign it and we may see a sequel soon! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/273/385/096/ready-up-black-rock-split-second-2/
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