Stormfront Studios has announced it will be closing its doors after 20 years in operation.
Following an initial report based on anonymous sources posted at Gamasutra earlier today, a Stormfront representative confirmed the closure with Next-Gen, blaming the shutdown on poor business and economic conditions. “Frankly, we didn’t get pitched, and the project [we were working on] made no revenue,” he said. “The economy is such that the projects that we weren’t winning, ended.” The company’s 33 employees were first informed of the closure yesterday.
Founded in 1988 by Don Daglow, who had previously worked at Mattel Intellivision, Electronic Arts and Broderbund, Stormfront’s releases included the original Neverwinter Nights for AOL, Tony La Russa Baseball, Gold Box Dungeons & Dragons titles, the original Madden NFL release for the PC, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and most recently, movie tie-ins based on The Spiderwick Chronicles and Eragon. The company has received numerous nominations and awards over the years from organizations include The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, BAFTA, the IGDA, the Software Publishers Association and many others.
Future plans for Stormfront staff and management have not been discussed, as the news is “still quite fresh.”
