Xbox is reportedly looking to pull the plug on a few game studios, with Montreal’s Compulsion Games, San Francisco’s Double Fine, and England’s own Ninja Theory apparently on the chopping block.
According to a well-known video games journalist Jason Schreier, things might not be completely over just yet. It looks like these studios are actively negotiating spin-offs to try and dodge total closure. There is a chance they could buy themselves back from Xbox and return to life as indie outfits, though the sad reality is that a lot of developers will probably lose their jobs along the way.
It is a massive blow considering what these teams have been up to lately. Compulsion Games only just put out South of Midnight last year.
Meanwhile, Double Fine, who everyone knows for the Psychonauts series, spent the last year releasing smaller projects like Keeper and Kiln.
Perhaps the biggest surprise here is Ninja Theory.
The UK studio literally just announced a brand new Hellblade game at the Xbox Games Showcase last week, making this sudden shift a pretty bitter pill to swallow for fans and employees alike.