Developer 5th Cell, best known for their endearing and adventurous Scribblenauts games, has announced that they are laying off 45 of their employees. They confirm that the studio is not shutting down, but that a cancelled project really set them back.
Gamespot is reporting that 5th Cell has laid off a significant amount of their workforce. This comes after the cancellation of a recent project they were working on. According to a statement that Gamespot received from their press department, the company stated...
Unfortunately, due to a project cancellation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today.5TH Cell as a company is not closing down, but our focus right now is 100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities.
Originally sites like Gamespot had reported that the studio had closed down, but the statement from 5th Cell says otherwise.
According to a brief report by GamesIndustry.biz the game that was cancelled and put 45 people out of work was Scribblenauts: Fighting Words. No details were shared about the actual contents of the game, but it was a typical follow-up to Scribblenauts: Unmasked, which was the last entry in the long-running series, and it centered around the inclusion of DC Universe heroes and villains into the story.
I always thought that the franchise was unique enough to financially stand on its own merits apart and away from the AAA herd; that the originality of the Scribblenauts games was enough to keep the brand around. However, Warner Bros., apparently wasn't thinking like that when canceling the latest title for whatever reason.
The gaming universe obviously responded with some sadness and the sending of their condolences. Many developers were quick to offer their support.
Other developers were quick to offer those laid off at 5th Cell a potential job opportunity, such as the senior sound designer from Naughty Dog – who is currently working on the PS4 exclusive, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Robert Krekel, who extended a hand of employment to those interested.
The downsizing of 5th Cell comes shortly after the closure of Lionhead Studios. It's such a strange time to see the industry shrinking so quickly, especially given that the Game Developers Conference just took place in San Francisco, California last week. You have an event celebrating developers, talking about technology, and looking at advancing the industry and yet surrounding that event we see studios dropping like flies.
Anyway, they don't mention what 5th Cell will do in terms of keeping the doors open, but they do mention that the immediate goals of the company at the moment is to help find 45 people new jobs.
