Dire Situation For Prototype 2 Development Team

I really rather hope that I don’t have to write too many more headlines like this one. Reports have begun to filter in from around the internet regarding the apparent closure of Radical Entertainment. During its two decade tenure in the industry the development studio had focussed primarily on licensed games, including The Simpsons: Hit and Run, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and The Terminator, but took over development of the Crash Bandicoot series for a time. Their most recent games were those comprising the middling [PROTOTYPE] series, the supposedly poor sales of which has made parent company Activision see fit to shutter the studio.

The news was originally leaked by the Twitter account of Rob Bridgett, the studio’s Audio Director with the simple message: “RIP Radical Entertainment 1991-2012“. Hasty enquiries were made by news outlets and Activision has since confirmed the decision to scale back the studio. One reply to GameSpot included the following message:

“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.“

Another reply, to Game Informer, was more blunt in its wording:

“Following an exploration of a wide range of options, it was determined that closing Radical Entertainment as a creative entity was the only option.“

Both messages included the statement that Activision made “a substantial investment in the Prototype IP” but that the decision came about due to its failure to “find a broad commercial audience“. It isn’t particularly wise to blindly believe unofficial sales figures, but with such figures stating that Prototype 2 failed to break the one million mark, the move may well have been justified. Whatever the case, it means that there more people join the unemployment queues and that is never a good thing. We at Velocity Gamer offer the best of luck to all those affected.