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ImaginEngine game studio shuts down (exclusive)

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 2 min

The ImaginEngine game studio, owned by Foundation 9 Entertainment, has shut down, GamesBeat has learned. The shutdown has cost about 25 developers their jobs, including studio head Randall Sanborn.

The shutdown is another symptom of a funk in the game industry, which has been hit by lower demand for console games and a transition to new markets and next-generation consoles. Last week, another sister company, Foundation 9 Entertainment’s developer Backbone Entertainment also laid off workers this week. Foundation 9 chief executive James North-Hearn confirmed the Backbone layoffs, but he has not yet responded to a request for comment about ImaginEngine.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.