According to the recent gossip, Namco Bandai has nabbed the brand new Splatterhouse game from developer Bottlerocket, effectively leaving the studio up sh*t creek without a paddle.

According to the story, Namco showed up at San Diego this Friday and took back the dev kit and all assets for the nearly completed game. The studio allegedly got its last paycheck on Friday for what is/was its only current project. If the rumors are true, Splatterhouse will finished in-house by the same team that developed Afro Samurai. 

Members of the Afro Samurai team were already working with Bottlerocket to complete Splatterhouse, and it is alleged that it was not a particularly friendly relationship. Another huge slap in the face is the fact that the potentially new development team is based in Carslbad along with Bottlerocket, and may even be leasing the jilted studio's building. Namco recruiters may also have been attempting to poach a few Bottlerocket staffers as well. 

If true, this looks like a rather cruel state of affairs for Bottlerocket, and the reasoning for yanking back the game and cutting the developer's legs off is a mystery. Nobody is currently speaking on this issue, and there's no clue as to what this means for Splatterhouse. 

Maybe Bottlerocket hadn't planned for some really sh*tty DLC? I know  Scamco Bandai would be upset about that.