{"id":66951,"date":"2014-07-16T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T09:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=66951"},"modified":"2014-07-16T11:04:25","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T09:04:25","slug":"great-gaming-studios-that-shut-their-doors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/66951-great-gaming-studios-that-shut-their-doors","title":{"rendered":"Great gaming studios that shut their doors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neversoft is no more.<\/p>\n

The studio, which is wholly owned by the publishing and development monster that is Activision, was officially merged with Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward last week – ending a 20 year run.<\/p>\n

Neversoft was founded in 1994 and, after joining Activision in 1998, became synonymous with the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series (released in 1999), and eventually Guitar Hero as well.<\/p>\n

The studio was a household name for gamers at the turn of the millennium, and has now joined a number of studios firmly in the hallowed halls of nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a sombre stroll through these halls.<\/p>\n

For all the kids who grew up in the 80s and 90s with gaming as their favourite pastime, these were the game developers that gave us “the classics”.<\/p>\n

Many of the minds behind these studios have moved on, been bought up, dissolved (into other studios, not in acid), had a resurgence, or were outright fired. But no matter where they are now, though, I think we can all agree they made gaming great.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a>

Admittedly, those were simpler times.<\/p><\/div>\n

Black Isle [1996 – 2003]<\/h3>\n

Black Isle technically still exists.<\/p>\n

The development studio behind the masterful Planscape: Torment and Fallout 2 was an in-house development studio of Interplay Entertainment, founded in 1996.<\/p>\n

Interplay (which was co-founded by Brian Fargo of Wasteland fame) faced many financial difficulties, and Black Isle\u00a0suffered accordingly.<\/p>\n

The studio was in the process of developing Fallout 3 and Baldur’s Gate III at the time of its closure in 2003; projects which landed in the hands of Bethesda (or simply disappeared, in the case of Baldur’s Gate).<\/p>\n

The studio was apparently restarted in 2012 to work on Project v13 – a code name for Fallout Online – but after a lengthy legal battle with Bethesda, there’s been no word on what the studio is up to.<\/p>\n

\"Fallout<\/a>

Popularising shades of brown even before the seventh generation of gaming<\/p><\/div>\n

LucasArts [1982 – 2012]<\/h3>\n

LucasArts was the tragic victim of an acquisition of George Lucas’s Lucasfilms by Walt Disney.<\/p>\n

The studio was founded in 1982 and brought us a plethora of legendary adventure games, including Maniac Mansion, Sam & Max, Monkey Island, and, of course, Grim Fandango<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The studio also developed and published tons of games based in the Star Wars universe.<\/p>\n

Disney bought the studio in 2012, and effectively shut it down and laid off its staff, ending an epic 30 year streak of greatness.<\/p>\n

Ex-LucasArts game devs have gained some prominence after leaving, though, with studios such as Double Fine and Telltale born from the ashes.<\/p>\n