Capcom has shut down its western studio Capcom Vancouver. The studio, which was mainly known for Dead Rising series of games, had already laid off many of its employees earlier this year. However, it seems now that the studio is closing and shutting its operations completely.
In an earlier statement to Kotaku, a company rep stated “as a result of reviewing titles in development at Capcom Vancouver, Capcom has decided to cancel the development projects at this studio and will concentrate development of major titles in Japan.”
We're sad to announce that effective today, Capcom Vancouver has suspended operations. We want to express our deepest thanks to our team and our fans for all your support.
— Capcom Vancouver (@CapcomVancouver) September 18, 2018
As a result of the closure, 158 jobs are to be lost at Capcom Vancouver. However a skeleton staff will remain until January next year to finales the closure operations and logistics.
Capcom Vancouver, which was founded in 2005 under the name Blue Castle Games, was the studio that game us the famous Dead Rising series over the years. Prior to Dead Rising, the company had worked on a number of successful sports titles. Capcom had then acquired Blue Castle Games soon after, and changing the name in the process while primarily held responsibility in creating Dead Rising titles since – releasing Dead rising 3 in 2013 and a sequel in 2016.
We appreciate the hard work and contributions of all the studio team members in creating unforgettable gameplay experiences for the Dead Rising series and Puzzle Fighter.
The closure of the studio follows a restructuring that happened earlier this year at Capcom where 30% of the staff lose their jobs. The move also saw the cancellation of an unannounced project and revisions to plan for the next Dead Rising game. Fans of the series who were waiting for Dead Rising 5 will have to wait and see where the series heads from here on out. Or if it even gets another title in the series at all.
Capcom has announced today that it expects to incur losses of around 4.5billion yen ($40 million) following the cancellations of projects and its Vancouver studio.
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