Radical Entertainment Goes Under

[Andy Chalk]

Radical Entertainment Goes Under

Activision has pulled the plug on Prototype studio Radical Entertainment.

Rumors of the end of Vancouver-based Radical Entertainment that surfaced earlier today have now been confirmed by parent company Activision. "Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience," the company said in a statement. "Radical [http://www.radical.ca/] 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."

Radical apparently won't disappear completely, as Activision said some employees will remain to support ongoing projects at other studios. "But the studio will cease development of its own games going forward," the publisher added.

Radical's last game was Prototype 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Prototype-2-Xbox-360/dp/B004FUL9YW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340915258&sr=8-1&keywords=Prototype+2], which came out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in April. It was the top-selling game for the month, beating out Kinect Star Wars and Modern Warfare 3 - not exactly the stiffest competition ever, in other words - but overall sales for the month were down by 32 percent year-over-year. The game then slipped to fourth in May, behind Diablo 3, Max Payne 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier; actual numbers haven't been released but according to Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz, both Max Payne 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier "underperformed" for the month, selling just over 400,000 units each.

We here at The Escapist wish all the best to everyone affected by the layoffs.

Source: Gamasutra [http://kotaku.com/5922129/report-prototype-creators-shutting-down]


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[Scrustle]

It's never good when a studio goes under, but I have to admit I'm not really upset by this. The Prototype games weren't that great.

 

[The_Darkness]

In direct opposition to the person above me (no offense Scrustle)...
Damn, thats a shame. I'm rather enjoying Prototype 2's B-movie style action.

 

[gigastar]

As if this wasnt obviously coming when those cutbacks were made to the studio last year.

 

[Jaebird]

I am in no way being a sarcastic douchebag when I say queue the "Lonely Man" theme from the Incredible Hulk.

I had fun with the products Radical had put out, and I wish the employees the best.

 

[Weaver]

Just standard Activision operating procedure.

If Activision owns your dev studio there's going to be one game that doesn't hit 5 million + sales and get a 90+ on metacritic, and you're going to get fired for it.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Just when it looked like EA were running away with the douche trophy, Activision are back in the game!

 

[Imthatguy]

DA FAQ?

Srsly Prototype 2 HAD to have made a profit! Any money is better than no money Activision!

 

[KeyMaster45]

Just standard Activision operating procedure.

If Activision owns your dev studio there's going to be one game that doesn't hit 5 million + sales and get a 90+ on metacritic, and you're going to get fired for it.

I'm pretty sure that was EA who made the 5 million sales and 90+ metacritic across the board statements, lay the out of touch douche-bag credit where it's due. Still, it does suck that they're getting the axe after just one game doesn't meet expectations.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I hope that everyone that winds up losing there job can quickly find a new one. They did good work to complete even a single game. Its tough to be in an industry where companies can so easily boom and bust.

 

[Sixcess]

Radical apparently won't disappear completely, as Activision said some employees will remain to support ongoing projects at other studios.

They can always put them to work on Call of Duty, and probably will.

Sad to see. Prototype had its quirks but was so frenetic and visceral that it was a lot of fun to play.

I can't help wondering. quite seriously, if the big guys like Activision and EA are going to wipe themselves out, killing franchise after franchise, studio upon studio, as they steer everything into the middle of the road, push budgets through the roof and into orbit and do the 'you have failed me for the last time' routine on anyone and everyone that doesn't meet their increasingly unrealistic profit expectations.

There's got to be a better way to run an industry than this. There's just got to be.

 

[BlindWorg]

No new Prototype games for the foreseeable future maybe?

Still, while im here i might aswell ask:

Does Prototype 2 have a definate, final ''end''? Im not intererested if its good quality or not but is it hinting for another sequel?


I dont generaly want to invest myself further in any VG series if the end will be left ambiguous or unresolved.

Dont give me that look, you know i always will love you though :>

 

[Baresark]

How do you do a year over year comparison for something that was out for one month?

You don't. They can say that it under performed or didn't meat sales expectations, but you can't do a year over year comparison. That seems idiotic to me. And how is Modern Warfare 3 not stiff competition?

I hate how big business thinks sometimes. As long as this doesn't interrupt the release of my already pre-purchased Prototype 2 for the PC, ultimately I don't care I suppose, though I do wish the best for the studio imployees.

 

[gphjr14]

I enjoyed prototype 1 & 2 but it didn't have any staying power. It was too damn easy and I payed extra for the radnet edition just to have to wait weeks for the dlc I payed for to be unlocked.

 

[Tony2077]

well it was fun while it lasted i wish them the best

 

[Evil Smurf]

Just when it looked like EA were running away with the douche trophy, Activision are back in the game!

they need to be the best!

 

[matrix3509]

Lets see here:

Game budgets are expanding at basically a linear rate, while sales figures are stagnant or falling....

Clearly the only solution to this is to gut every studio not making a CoD game.

 

[Alandoril]

How do you do a year over year comparison for something that was out for one month?

You don't. They can say that it under performed or didn't meat sales expectations, but you can't do a year over year comparison. That seems idiotic to me. And how is Modern Warfare 3 not stiff competition?

I hate how big business thinks sometimes. As long as this doesn't interrupt the release of my already pre-purchased Prototype 2 for the PC, ultimately I don't care I suppose, though I do wish the best for the studio imployees.

It's called making projections

And no, they never, ever make sense. Especially not in this case.