The Shoot developer closes down

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 April, 2011

Dundee's Cohort Studios no more.

The Shoot maker Cohort Studios has shut down, Develop reports.

The Dundee developer blamed the closure on the "difficulties of being a console developer in a declining console marketplace".

"It really is with great saddness that we have been left with no alternative but to start winding down," CEO Lol Scragg said in a press release issued this afternoon.

"Making all 25 employees redundant is genuinely heartbreaking. It goes without saying that we wish them all every success, as they really are a very talented team and we are actively trying to seek employment for each and every one of them. As we entered 2011, we have looked to change the direction of our business but unfortunately we ran out of time."

PlayStation 3 exclusive The Shoot launched last year.

The PlayStation Move-enabled, on-rails blast 'em up saw players work their way through five different movie sets, shooting anything that moves.

Ellie awarded it 5/10 in Eurogamer's The Shoot review. "£29.99 is a lot to ask for a game that only offers a few hours of entertainment," she wrote.

Cohort, founded in 2006, worked on the Buzz! Junior franchise, Lemmings, and helped out with racers Burnout Paradise and Motorstorm.

PlayStation minis game Me Monster: Hear Me Roar, launches on the PlayStation Store in the first week of May.

"Who knows, if this game is a 'roaring' success – the doors of Cohort Studios may very well reopen as there is a Me Monstar 2 just bursting to get out!" said the studio.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dadrester #1 1 year ago

    first.... because i have nothing better to do any more :(

    [edit] except sign on... because I'm now out of a job... irony "first" innit
    Edited by dadrester at 21/04/11 @ 14:47

  • Gromit #2 1 year ago

    Well, you release crap games and this is what happens....

    Edit - Jesus. I point out the basics of commerce and get negged -6 for it!
    Obviously I don't want people to lose their job, but at a time when nurses and ambulance staff are being sacked, it's hard to feel sympathy for a commercial venture that, let's face it, wouldn't be in this situation if they had been successful.
    Edited by Gromit at 21/04/11 @ 21:28

  • PixelPirate #3 1 year ago

    Sorry that people have lost their jobs. It does go to show that you cant release any old crap and expect to survive these days.

    Good ideas, thought through and attention to detail is what will keep you alive in this bis.

  • dadrester #4 1 year ago

    happens when you make perfectly good games too I'm afraid... points at Bizarre Creations

  • HL706 #5 1 year ago

    "release any old crap and expect to survive these days."

    Rubbish! Blitz Games and plenty of others have been releasing pap for years and are doing just fine.
    Edited by HL706 at 21/04/11 @ 14:52

  • TheBear #6 1 year ago

    Is his name really Lol?

  • LolTM #7 1 year ago

    yes, it is...

  • Crea #8 1 year ago

    Yeah, unfortunately the correlation between game quality and financial stability, though there, isn't 1:1. Plenty of counter-examples to quote, both great developers releasing great games but going to the wall regardless, as well as some less-than-stellar outfits managing to dodge the reaper again and again through superlative financial gymnastics, generous subsidies or work-for-hire.

    Not commenting on their rep as developers (never played any of their games), but I always did wonder how Denis Dyack managed to suspend the laws of financial reality for Silicon Knights after the reputed spend over the years on Too Human, only for it to flop, but the studio sails on. Could do with some of those financial skills in Dundee!

  • Goodfella #9 1 year ago

    I think Lol is short for Laurence.

  • sonicyoda #10 1 year ago

    @LolTM

    Terrible news. Hopefully yourself and the other 24 employees made redundant aren't out of work for long. Perhaps another new indie studio could come out of this? iPhone development seems pretty lucrative these days!

  • Jimster71 #11 1 year ago

    Crap situation to be in. Good luck to everyone in their hunt for new jobs.
    Edited by Jimster71 at 21/04/11 @ 15:53

  • Eldritch #12 1 year ago

    Why is the console marketplace declining? Did I miss something here?

    Personally, I rather liked The Shoot, a solid launch title with good production values. Shame about all those people losing their jobs, here's hoping you'll find something new soon!

  • Stifler #13 1 year ago

    Never good to hear, all the best to everyone involved :(

  • Bennicus #14 1 year ago

    How many studios are left in the UK now? Soon we'll be relying on Eutechnyx and Blitz to generate all of the UK's game output.

  • Doctor_What #15 1 year ago

    Sad news for the UK industry as well as the people directly impacted. If this keeps up we won't have anyone left.

    I quite liked The Shoot, personally.

  • dadrester #16 1 year ago

    The studio is in pretty good spirits, under the circumstances. I think most of us have been through the same thing before (got some ex Visual Science, Vis and RTW staffers), but at least we’ve been given proper notice and redundancy etc. Much better than getting to work one morning to find the doors locked and having to wait months for any kind of pay.

    also... don't call Lol, Laurence. He gets angry!

  • richardiox #17 1 year ago

    Hope you find something else soon Dre x

  • Drygore #18 1 year ago

    @dadrester

    Always a shame when stuff like this happens. For the record though: I like The Shoot, and my gf likes it even more ;-) Sadly that wont change much. Best of luck to you guys.

    // Mike from Sweden

  • dadrester #19 1 year ago

    the challenges are by far the best bit of the shoot. sadly they're a massive pain to unlock (not our decision) and so barely any of the reviewers got a chance to play them.

  • TFM_Excalibur #20 1 year ago

    "difficulties of being a console developer in a declining console marketplace".

    Surely that just equates to. 'we made a shite game, that everyone boycotted to play black ops.'

  • MadSurg3on #21 1 year ago

    Dre - the challenges were so-so and you know it ;-)

    The obviously tongue in cheek B-Movie Robot was the best :p

  • FreddyJ #22 1 year ago

    @Gromit what a complete gobshite you are, sitting behind your computer screen in your underwear telling other hard working game developers their games are crap. As if you've ever done anything of any note ever, I'm sure you're not even a game dev and you're some spotty little prick who thinks he has the best ideas for games ever..

    Jog on bawbag

    *Note* I do not and have never worked for Cohort, I just can't stand little peons like this...

  • LolTM #23 1 year ago

    to clarify the declining console marketplace comments, I was referring to the developers getting work-for-hire in this market rather than consumer spend. It is a fact that over the past 18 months, the amount of work-for-hire for independent developers has dropped tremendously and for a truly independent developer who doesn't have investment nor masses of cash, it is an incredibly difficult marketplace out there.

  • LolTM #24 1 year ago

    to clarify the declining console marketplace comments, I was referring to the developers getting work-for-hire in this market rather than consumer spend. It is a fact that over the past 18 months, the amount of work-for-hire for independent developers has dropped tremendously and for a truly independent developer who doesn't have investment nor masses of cash, it is an incredibly difficult marketplace out there.

  • RFturrican #25 1 year ago

    It was an alright game, bearing in mind it was designed specifically for Move, so you can't really expect something like Grand Theft Auto V: City on Rails now, can you?

    It is always a shame when companies go under and thoughts go out to the guys who worked there. I think people should start taking a leaf out of Namco and Bandai's book and start merging together.

    As long as we get some decent content along the way it could work.

  • LittleMousy #26 1 year ago

    Real shame, The Shoot was the most fun I had with Move at launch.