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GRIN in trouble, more office closures photo

GRIN could be in bigger trouble than we thought. According to a Swedish report released in June, the studio has closed its Gothenburg and Barcelona offices. The Stockholm office isn’t faring much better. Gamasutra has learned that employees of that office have been told to stop coming to work. These events follow reports of layoffs earlier this year.

The studio experienced a meteoric rise and fall, capturing attention with two splendid PC ports of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, then possibly losing it all with some shabbily constructed games like Bionic Commando, Wanted: Weapons of Fate and Terminator: Salvation.


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24 comments | showing # 1 to 24

Necro BABS's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:42
Necro BABS
Wanted was their best game. What thy should do is have a battle royale style deathmatch with the other laid off guys from midway. Winner gets a job
The Prodigal Son's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:44
The Prodigal Son
In this economy (as much as I hate that phrase -- it's a reality), studios can't afford a turn-and-burn style of development.
SuitcoatAvenger's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:46
SuitcoatAvenger
Well, when Wanted is your best game, you know you're not meeting expectations.

I get the feeling this little company got a little too much on their plate at one time. Two licensed games, one for Big Summer Release, and a high profile, long-awaited Capcom title? They can't be that big of a company.
timtheterrible's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:48
timtheterrible
Too bad...Bionic Commando: Re-Armed was a God-send.
theswitcher's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:50
theswitcher
Another victim of the HD-only complex.
Necro BABS's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:53
Necro BABS
How are they a victim of HD complex? What try are guitly of are shitty game complex
Sam Spectre's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 10:56
Sam Spectre
GRAW 1 & 2 were fun, but I didn't even know they made those games.
TheCleaningGuy's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 11:04
TheCleaningGuy
I loved Wanted, BC, and BC:R. I'm sad to see a company that provided me with so much fun go under :(
theswitcher's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 11:15
theswitcher
Because unless your games have a huge-ass marketing campaign, and unless you actually do sell over a million copies, you're pretty much dead in the water. It happened to Free Radical, it happened to Factor 5, and it's happening to Grin.

No publisher is gonna want to invest in you ever again if your game doesn't light the world on fire (sales wise) because so much more money has to go into everything when compared to last gen and to the Wii. I'm not saying Grin or whoever must only develop for the Wii, but they have to be a hell of a lot more careful than releasing 3 sub-par games in the span of 3 months.

It's all pretty ironic, because the producer of Wanted made all those moronic comments about Madworld needing to sell 3 million copies to even start making a profit, when his own shitty game couldn't even outsell Madworld to begin with.
SuitcoatAvenger's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 11:24
SuitcoatAvenger
@ theswitcher;

Marketing at fault? Bullshit.

Wanted and Terminator were both attached to films, one of which is known by anyone under the sun. In the case of licensed products, the marketing has already been done by other people. That's why shit games like Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End do well in sales. Not because they are great games.

As for Bionic Commando, that had a fan-base built in. People had been waiting for years for a new Bionic Commando. ReArmed was universally praised. The stage was set.

And the game they released was below-par. Some people like it, but I don't think anyone can say it was what it should have been. The same could be said of Wanted and Terminator.

Free Radical released Haze.

Factor 5 released Lair.

Marketing ain't the problem, homeboy.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 11:29
D-503
Bionic Commando: Rearmed was good. It's a shame they couldn't put the same quality into their bigger budget games.
theswitcher's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 11:34
theswitcher
No, no, I'm not saying marketing is the problem in this case. ANY HD game, for it to warrant a sequel, needs a massive marketing campaign to be remotely successful. You needed one for PS2, GC and Xbox games as well, but you didn't have to spend nearly as much on games last gen. But in this economy, you can't mess around. If you have one big failure, you're done. Grin had three, all for HD consoles (plus PC) that's a massive investment with little return.

There's been more studios closed down in this generation than any other. Pubs and devs are not being careful, and throwing all your eggs in the HD basket is certainly not the right way to do business.
odintal's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 12:05
odintal
@switcher putting your eggs in the HD basket isn't the problem, it's putting all your eggs into a basket made of donkey shit.
Slique's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 12:10
Slique
I really enjoyed both Wanted and Bionic Commando Rearmed, but both Bionic Commando and Terminator Salvation were horrid games. The total lack of basic game design know how is unforgivable (lack of checkpointing, an over-abundance/reliance on collectable items to pad length, bland environments, repetition, etc) and clearly something they had a problem with. It's a shame to see them go under, but it's hardly surprising considering their performance this past year.
Noah's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 12:37
Noah
Bionic Commando was a great game....especially for $20 at gamestop.

GRIN will be missed if they go under
MushroomStamp's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 12:46
MushroomStamp
No big loss here... none of there games were very good. and Bionic Command SUCKED!!!
Los255's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 13:14
Los255
Bionic Commando is the most underrated game of this year. I guess I'm in the minority who loved it.
DJP3DRO's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 13:18
DJP3DRO
I liked Bionic Commando too. It wasn't the best game ever but I was thouroghly entertained for only $20 new.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 14:00
Dexter345
They did a fantastic job with BC: Rearmed though. Perhaps they should stick to 2D?
ZackTurner's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 14:00
ZackTurner
I would like the socks and the bionic commando plz.

But seriously, BC was great, it was a bunch of people who couldn't possible get a handle on the controls or who are too spoiled by GTA and other free roaming to like it.

There aren't nearly enough games like bionic commando and there should be. In a market saturated by DMC clones (god of war) and FPS... and incremental updates to sports games, it's refreshing to have something different.

If one were to have a open world BC game without boundaries it would get old. And fast. The Environment wouldn't be so different between levels. It would be the same city. Grin did an EXCELLENT job working with capcom.

Terminator... eh.
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 16:18
HiddenAHB
After 3 shitty games the fact that they aren't closed yet is a wonder.
Artemus's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 16:56
Artemus
I've just beaten Bionic Commando and really enjoyed it.
Yeah, it has its flaws, but still a great game.
Thank you, Capcom and Grin.
Too bad the game is getting totally shit on.
Good luck, Grin. Layoffs suck.
Also, Rearmed is an amazing retro remake. Except for that damned unlimited lives patch.
themizarkshow's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/11/2009 17:48
themizarkshow
I've enjoyed BC: Rearmed, Bionic Commando, and the demo for Wanted is interesting enough to buy it once i have the time to play it. They have some flaws, sure, but they are far from shitty games. Hopefully they can pull through it.
Solid Squirrel's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 06:59
Solid Squirrel
ReArmed was their best work, even if it was just an update.

But oh my, what an update it was.
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