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Rumortoid: Factor 5 has closed its doors photo

It's starting to get a little depressing, having to write post after post about developers shutting down. Yet, here we are again. In a post on the IGN forums, Matt Casamassina claims an inside source has revealed to him that the developer behind Lair took their ball and went home on Friday.

The company, which released their first game back in 1988, was also responsible for the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Turrican series. Murmurs have been circulating for several months that Factor 5 was developing new Kid Icarus and Superman games.

I'm still classing this as rumor, for the time being, since there's no attributable name to Casamassina's source. Still, with their last game a flop (for good reason), a recent blog post from an artist at Factor 5 claiming dire financial straits and plenty of other devs cutting staff or going under completely, it sounds quite probable.

[Via Kotaku]


Continue: More Factor 5 stories





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24 comments | showing # 1 to 24

Krow-Kupo's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 02:11
Krow-Kupo
Well this is awfully depressing. At first I was thinking Level-5 though, thank goodness it wasn't them.
RJG's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 05:00
RJG
They were also a company of remarkable technical achievement, with incredible audio abilities that really pushed hardware, especially the N64.
moshakirby's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 06:15
moshakirby
And nothing of value was lost.
Hurrah for recessions!
Endstiem's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 06:28
Endstiem
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Projectexodus's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 07:13
Projectexodus
So, no more Rogue Squadron or Turrican games? :(
Touch's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 07:16
Touch
Ah, this sucks. Too many devs going down. They may not have been huge hitters but some of the Rogue Squadron games were decent. Shame - we'll being seeing more companies going down soon I should think
arkracer's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 07:58
arkracer
No! Now we'll never see Rogue Squadron 4 if this is right!

:(
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 08:47
RonBurgandy2010
Is anyone keeping a tally of these stories? This is getting depressing.
El-Sveppi's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 09:16
El-Sveppi
Please no. Why are my favorite devs all going out of business :(
gamadaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 10:02
gamadaya
Factor 5 was just a shadow of their former selves. I don't think we were every going to see another Rogue Squadron anyway.
bart999's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 10:05
bart999
Wasn't it Cassamassina that "guaranteed" a Kid Icarus announcement at E3?
JonDarkwood's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 10:33
JonDarkwood
Oh phew I was thinking Level-5 too and I almost screamed before I saw the first comment.

Well it still sucks, just like everything else in the economy. I hate to see this stuff going on as much as anyone else.
silvain's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 10:57
silvain
You mean we have to be profitable, too? lol
John B's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 11:05
John B
That's really sad when it's the inventive developers that keep going out of business because the majority of gamers are unimaginative f*ckwads who want the latest version of the same damned game, year after year after year after year.

No good deed goes unpunished when most gamers apparently just want "The Same F*cking Sports Title {insert current/next year here}" or "The Same First Person Shooter {insert version number here}".

Clover, Bullfrog, Factor-5 (possibly) ... the list goes on, all because they dared to try something new. Very sad precedent.
MF DOOM's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 11:36
MF DOOM
well that is what you get for supporting the platfail3 you fail! plus the game mechanics sucked!
ChronosWing's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 13:11
ChronosWing
@MF

GTFO. Take your fanboy comments over to kotoku.
Mattchewie's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 13:26
Mattchewie
@John B

agreed
John B's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 15:45
John B
Speaking of f*ckwads ... thank you for proving my point, MF Doom. Attitudes like yours are the reason why the human gene pool needs some chlorine.
catsithx's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 16:27
catsithx
@John B : Preach it brother.
Grasshopper7's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/21/2008 19:04
Grasshopper7
Damn it!!! The Rogue Squadron games were great. Perhaps not the last one when they tried to add on-foot levels, but the flight levels were unparalled, a hell of a lot better than Battlefronts that's for sure. There's no-one I'd rather be blowing up the Death Star with. Sad news. :(
Monodi's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/22/2008 05:01
Monodi
Oh God, this is going in insane levels. If either Grasshopper, Hal or Capcom shuts down doors in the future, I consider the game industry absolutely shattered.

Recession-proof my scrotum.
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/22/2008 11:47
B-Radicate
People just don't understand how to interpret such news and rumors. Maybe they should create a handy little guide to help us all out. Worked so well last time...
The Amazing Shenazin's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/22/2008 21:58
The Amazing Shenazin
well they haven't made a good game in how many years?
AClockWorkMelon's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/23/2008 06:38
AClockWorkMelon
@John B

While I agree with you, I also think that it's up to a game dev to be build games that are both innovative and fun.

I don't care for Factor 5's games. Neither do a lot of other people. So it's no surprise that they're the first to go.
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