Update: Its webpage and Facebook are still up, but Airtight has said via its Twitter feed that the studio is shut.
“Thanks to all the fans, family, friends and colleagues who supported us and made the last 10 years possible,” it Tweets. “Thanks to all of the amazing people who worked on Dark Void, Quantum Conundrum, Murdered, Soul Fjord, Pixld and DerpBike.”
“I’ve been in the game industry 8 years and I’m lucky in the sense that this is my first layoff,” Tweets former employee Lee Scheinbeim, who’s contracting for Bioware in the short term but will be looking for new work soon. “It’s kind of weird how little most gamers know about how devs/publishers work especially in terms of finances.”
According to Scheinbeim, layoffs started back in January and many of his former colleagues are still looking for work.
The website’s still up, but Airtight’s HQ is selling off the office equipment.
Airtight Games, the folks behind Murdered: Soul Suspect, Ouya exclusive Soul Fjord and other fun titles, may have shut its doors for good. The website’s still up and active, but its Redmond, Washington HQ is selling off its office equipment in a blowout all-sales-are-final apocalypse.
The news comes courtesy of GeekWire, which visited the Redmond office only to find a sign on the door saying the company was closing. Airtight laid off 14 employees earlier this year in a move its Jim Deal tried to call “part of the normal ebb and flow of game production,” but – as Deal didn’t say – studio closures are also part of the normal ebb and flow.
If you’re worried about Portal‘s Kim Swift, you needn’t be; she flew the coop in April this year, leaving Airtight for Amazon Game Studios.
Murdered: Soul Suspect launched early last month, to generally mixed reviews. The Escapist’s Paul Goodman felt it was okay, but nothing special, with lacklustre puzzles.
We’ve sent a request for comment out to Airtight; I’ll let you know if it responds.
Source: GeekWire
Published: Jul 3, 2014 11:54 am