Radical Entertainment, a 20-year-old game studio that recently made the Prototype 2 console game for Activision Publishing, has shut down.
Audio designer Rob Bridgett, who worked at the Vancouver-based studio, confirmed the news on Twitter. Radical was a subsidiary Activision Publishing, a division of Activision Blizzard. The shutdown is one more sign of tough times in the core console game business, which has seen sales in physical stores drop dramatically this year.
Radical also worked on titles such as Prototype, Scarface, Crash of the Titans, the Simpsons: Road Rage and Hit & Run, and CSI: Miami.
Radical’s web site says, “Radical is hiring.”
In a statement, Activision said, “Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype intellectual property, it did not find a broad commercial audience. Radical 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. As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward.”