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Sony Liverpool (1984-2012)
How could this happen? No more Wipeout? Everything this studio touched seemed to turn to gold. Whether it was the famous hovercar racing series or the superb PS2/PSP F1 racing games, Studio Liverpool arguably didn't put a foot wrong for years. If you ever want a brilliant racing game for a pittance, get F1 '05 on PS2.
Sony decided to close Studio Liverpool after a review of its European business so that was that. You've got to be ruthless in business, certainly, but surely there was another way in this instance?
Zipper Interactive (1995-2012)
Zipper may have become known only for the PlayStation-exclusive SOCOM: Navy Seals, but it also made MAG, Unit 13 and the rather brilliant Xbox dogfighting game Crimson Skies. This was a team that knew how to make online games.
But we must now talk of them only in past tense, as Unit 13 on Vita was the team's last game. 'Resource allocation' was blamed. The team had apparently finished all their work on it, as Sony proudly proclaimed. Maybe they should have taken a bit more time.
Red Octane (1999-2010)
Red Octane was the company responsible for the invention of the Guitar Hero plastic guitars. They are/were a lot of fun. Who hasn't enjoyed clack-clack-clacking their way through Sweet Child O' Mine? Exactly.
Nonetheless, Activision bought them up, wrung them dry and then closed them down. And now the clacking has stopped. Most tellingly, I bet you can still hear the sound of strum bars playing 'Paranoid' if you listen in your mind...
Pandemic (1998-2009)
The Melbourne-based creators of much-loved franchises like Mercenaries, Star Wars Battlefront and Destroy All Humans was closed shortly after producing the rather lovely Saboteur on PS3 and 360. Although the talent was still present and correct, the popularity of Pandemic's franchises were on the wane. Mercenaries 2 was decent, but appetite for third-person shooters had been dimmed by the rise of COD. And Destroy All Humans... well, let's be kind and say they 'ran out of decent ideas'.
The good news is that Pandemic's finest creation--the Star Wars Battlefront series--is making a comeback on next-gen, thanks to the war-wizards at DICE. Will it be a fitting tribute to this fine studio? DICE's pedigree says 'Yes'.
Hudson Soft (1973-2012)
The maker of Bomberman, Hudson Soft was founded in 1973, making it one of the oldest video game companies in the world. Although the popularity of Bomberman was a huge success during the early and middle generations, Hudson never really created anything as big since. It's true that Mario Party and Sonic Shuffle is the company's work, and it created other--more unusual--games like Far East of Eden, which is why Konami absorbed Hudson in 2012.
So, technically, the company no longer exists. Having said that, games will still be distributed by Konami using the Hudson Soft brand. Not quite lost, then, but no longer independent.
Kaos Studios (2006-2011)
Although a relatively minor studio, Kaos had plenty of talent. Formed from the key players of Trauma Studio who created the Desert Combat mod on PC (using the Battlefield 1942 engine), Kaos only made two full games. These were Frontlines: Fuel of War and Homefront. While the latter was a significant disappointment, both games showed huge potential--especially in multiplayer. I'd love to have seen what Kaos could have done with solid development time and backing.
Sadly, we'll never know how far Kaos would have gone. The New York studio was closed down by owner THQ in 2011, following poor sales of Homefront. THQ itself folded shortly afterwards...
Rockstar Vancouver (1998-2012)
Rockstar Vancouver started out like as Barking Dog Studios, which is quite a naughty-sounding dog but obviously not enough to make Uncharted. After a name change, the team made two excellent games, namely Bully and Max Payne 3.
Despite the successful reception enjoyed by both games, the studio was merged with Rockstar Toronto. It's all still 'Rockstar' so we're not too sad, but even so, this studio's output was particularly strong and now it's technically history. Damn you, streamlining!
Radical Entertainment (1991-????)
Damn it, Radical Entertainment is a huge loss to the industry. This studio had some pedigree. It started with Terminator on the NES, worked on Gridrunner (Saturn), Dark Summit, The Simpsons Hit'n'Run, Scarface: The World Is Yours, and finally created the Prototype series for Activision. It's reward for making the decent Prototype 2 was to be crippled by redundancies, so that it no longer had a team large enough to create individual games. Thanks Activision.
Radical Entertainment still technically exists, but it works as a support studio for other titles in the Activision stable. A sad end to a great company.
Which one do you miss most?
As I say, there were some 150 studio closures over this past generation, so it's entirely possible one of your personal favourites hasn't been mentioned here. Let us know which one you'll miss most in the comments below. Er... we won't be able to bring back the most popular, it doesn't work like that. Sorry.
And if you're looking for more, check out Exactly how many studios has Activision closed this generation and Bizarre Creations releases retrospective video as its doors close forever. Noooooo.
