We have been hearing about the closure of Radical Entertainment through Twitter. Audio chief at Radical, Rob Bridgett, tweeted “RIP Radical Entertainment 1991-2012”. Activision has since confirmed the move.
Activision has confirmed that Radical Entertainment has been shut down. The reason? They say that the company’s latest title Prototype 2 had “not been able to find an audience.”
The game followed its predecessor, Prototype, and featured a new protagonist, Connor, and received An 80 average on Metacritic. That is a great score, but seemed to reach just the fans of the series and didn’t branch out the way that Activision had hoped.
The company was founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 1991 by three former staff of nearby EA Canada. It was known then as Distinctive Software. After much work with partner work with Ubisoft, THQ, Microsoft and Fox Interactive, MVC reminds us that they were “one of the few non-Nintendo developers allowed to handle the Mario IP, making games like Mario Is Missing.”
In 2005, the company was purchased by Vivendi Games, who then purchased Activision and sister teams who eventually sold off or closed.
While a handful of employees will stay on board to assist other Activision studios, it is still sad to see another company shut its doors to any future opportunities.
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