Activision’s Neversoft studio has finally shut down after two decades of making games like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero.
The company celebrated the sad event by burning an effigy of its logo and offering a huge Bowie knife to its employees. The staff of the Activision-owned studio are now part of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward.
That decision was made after Neversoft assisted Infinity Ward on last year’s Call of Duty: Ghosts. Neversoft worked on Tony Hawk skateboarding games from 1999 to 2007, and it also worked on Guitar Hero, music games that brought upon a short-lived revolution by spawning a demand for plastic instruments, from 2007 to 2010. But people burned out on those titles, and Activision’s own strategy has been to narrow its focus to blockbuster properties such as Call of Duty.
War, it seems, is more popular than music or skateboarding.
The Bowie knives should at least come in handy for inspiring developers to make Call of Duty games.