Black Rock Studios Set to Close its Doors

25
Richard Walker

Split/Second and Pure developer Black Rock Studios is closing its doors, with Eurogamer breaking the story earlier this morning that Disney had delivered the news to the remaining 40 staff in a meeting at Brighton Town Hall yesterday.

Disney issued an official statement to GamesIndustry.biz regarding the closure: “Disney Interactive Studios confirms that Black Rock Studios' current project has not been greenlit for further development, consequently the company informed employees yesterday of the intent to enter a consultation process on the proposal to close the studios.”

In May, Disney had made layoffs and cuts to the workforce, but had stated that "the studio will continue its work on its current project." That no longer seems to be the case however, with Disney now apparently outsourcing projects. An anonymous source accused Disney of handling the developer "clumsily", outsourcing when the dev was more than capable of coping internally and failing to provide adequate marketing for its racing games.

Two new studios have already formed in the wake of the recent staff cuts however, with Split/Second Director Nick Baynes founding Roundcube Entertainment and Game Director Andrew Hubbard, Art Director Steve Uphill, Technical Director Kim Burrows and Technical Art Director Stuart Pharaoh all now working at ShortRound Games.

Comments
25
  • Another shut down. :( Never played a black rock game, but still sad to see a dev team go. Good luck to Roundcube, Shortround and all the staff for the future
  • I don't do racing games very often but Pure and Split/second were both quality. I hope the new studios can do something similar, and all those guys can find new jobs.
  • Dam it does that mean the pure sequel and split/second sequel are no more. Hope the new companies come out with some decent fun racing games.
  • I echo the above, never played Split/Second but was an avid fan of Pure and it's a shame the dev has been sunk thus ruling out any hope of a follow up.
  • :/ damn...
  • DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Split/Second is the best racing game I've ever played!!! In terms of gameplay I mean
  • Thats Disney's lose, these guys are quality. Im sure they will do very well within ShortRound Games.
  • 'Pure' was amazing, got buy it in memory of the studio.
  • Shame they made some very good games, but nobody bought them that was the problem.
  • What's up with a lot of shutdown and layoff lately? That kinda scares me. Eh....
  • Should have made PURE 2..........sad.
  • Pure is the best ATV game on the market for all out fun and Split / Second even with its flaws was fantastic. Disney should have marketed the games more so they could have had the credit they deserved.
  • Split/Second was a good game no doubt. Its a shame the community didnt take to it too well. Whether against the AI or Opposition, it was a testing game at times . . . Hopefully something similar will come to fruition under their new studios :-)
  • I guess people prefer Forza Boringsport over exciting racegames such as Split/Second and Pure.
  • i hated Pure with a passion but loved love Split/Second its a shame that studios close when the last game got rated highly on Metacritic then other studios can continue releasing tripe
  • Loved Pure and Split/Second, wish they made a second for both. @14 just because you don't like Forza doesn't mean its boring.
  • @14 - There's a huge different between arcade racers and sim racers. Just because Forza is over your head doesn't mean it's boring. I personally think arcade racers are boring, but you don't see me spouting off about it. I've never played either game, but it's still a shame to see any development studio get canned. It's becoming a trend that's not welcome.
  • Loved Split Second, sad news indeed :(
  • No! Aww I played was shooter games these guys actually got me into racers.
  • Wow, even with all that money Disney has.
  • This is a shame because Black Rock Studios made a great racer in Split Second as did Bizarre creations who created the PGR series which is probably my favorite racing series. Not to diss turn 10 but Forza can get boring after awhile. Who will i turn to for my arcade racing fun now!? :(
  • bastards! i was hoping for a split/second sequel at some point.
  • @16 just because you like forza doesn't mean it isn't boring
  • dam another 1 bites the dust 8( pure split are class got em on both 360 n ps3
  • Idiot lids shouting till they are blue in the face about what is factual and opinion.. I found forza to bore to no end but pure was pretty damn fun. Pity really
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