Activision closes Shaba, halves 7 Studios

By Robert Purchese Published 9 October, 2009

Cuts deplete Spider-Man, DJ Hero teams.

Activision has closed Spider-Man: Web of Shadows developer Shaba Games, laying off 61 employees.

"Activision continually evaluates the resources at our studio properties to ensure that they are properly matched to our product slate and overall strategic goals," the publisher said in a statement on Joystiq.

"As part of this process, we recently made the difficult but necessary decision to close Shaba Studios. We are grateful for the studio's contributions and wish this talented team success in their future endeavours."

Previous Shaba projects include Tony Hawk, Shrek and Shaba Ranks: The Adventures of Mr Loverman. Maybe not the last one.

Activision's resource-trimming hasn't stopped there: 30 staff - around 50 per cent - from 7 Studios are now looking for another job, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

7 Studios had been making DJ Hero rival Scratch: The Ultimate DJ for publisher Genius Products. The acquisition by Activision lead to legal action, which eventually saw Genius reunited with code and assets from the project.

Activision denied buying the 7 Studio to hold-up the rival game - which will miss its intended autumn release and head to 2010 - saying only that the purchase would "bolster its development capabilities".

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (22) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ChthonicEcho #1 2 years ago

    "As part of this process, we recently made the difficult but necessary decision to close Shaba Studios. We are grateful for the studio's contributions and wish this talented team success in their future endeavours."

    It always amazes me how, in business practices, when you majorly screw someone over, you pat them on the back and wish them luck 'in their future endeavours'.

  • Bazfrag #2 2 years ago

    One more reason why these morally bankrupt tarts will not be getting my money. (until Diablo!)

  • SAMagic #3 2 years ago

    It's all part of the rhetoric, sadly.

    Activision denied buying the 7 Studio to hold-up the rival game - which will miss its intended autumn release and head to 2010 - saying only that the purchase would "bolster its development capabilities".
    Yes, the former is the same as the latter!

  • Ornithophobe #4 2 years ago

    One day Bobby Kotick will hold a press conference explaining that he has been horribly disfigured in an attempt on his life and he will be reorganizing the games industry into the first Activision Empire.

  • beastmaster #5 2 years ago

    This is bad. It seems as though any developer needs to produce a hit in order to stay alive. What bothers me most about this is that it leaves devs cold about trying bold new ideas. Would MM have survived if they were not owned by Sony after the initial underwhelming sales of Little Big Planet? Even then, that's no guarantee.

    As for Spiderman etc. if a dev produces high profile games which are crap and STILL don't sell then it's time for devs to start worrying.

    Edited by 1 at 09/10/09 @ 09:04

  • Bazfrag #6 2 years ago

    "Unlimited Power!!"...

  • Ornithophobe #7 2 years ago

    Actually I take that back, I can't get the image of Gabe Newell as a morbidly obese Yoda out of my head now.

  • nickthegun #8 2 years ago

    If its a lovin' that you want, its a lovin' ya gonna get

  • attacanteblue #9 2 years ago

    7-Studios working on DJ Hero? I think a certain judge in LA might want to know about that. Unless, of course, you just made that bit up to attract traffic.

  • Camorrista #10 2 years ago

    But Palpatine had ideals and character... (however evil)

  • mingster #11 2 years ago

    shabba

  • Fatbobbybob #12 2 years ago

    The headline is slightly misleading since it's scratch that lost developers not DJ Hero. The whole thing leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Let's hope the guys from Shaba can find new jobs outside of the control of Activision.

  • RobotRocker #13 2 years ago

    The hilarious part? Some of the laid off guys are saying that the main reason they were cut was Guitar Hero 5 severely underperformed at retail and that Activision were so desperate for it to beat Beatles Rock Band that they sacrificed dev time and bundled a free game with it just so they could say they beat EA. While it sold a decent amount, the fact that they bundled Van Halen in the US/World Tour in the EU with it cost them a lot of money that they are not making back. Prototype also underperformed badly and overall sales on Activision titles not named Call of Duty haven't been great. A couple of EX-Shabba games developers have also said that they closed the studio as "They didn't specialise in any genre" and Activision wanted to have a Franchise tied to each studio.

    Losing your job in this economy sucks though, so hopefully they can get back on their feet soon enough.
    Edited by 1 at 09/10/09 @ 10:17

  • RexRunti #14 2 years ago

    They are making it easier and easier not to buy MW2. Whilst I hope Activision have a change of heart before Starcraft II if they haven't I don't think even that game could persuade me to give them any of my money.

  • gav_and_the_gavster #15 2 years ago

    beastmaster, I couldn't agree more. I think the future of innovation right now lies on the shoulders of indie devs.

  • penhalion #16 2 years ago

    @beastmaster

    Don't worry. It's not leaving devs cold about trying new things. It's leaving devs cold about being bought or published by Activision. Basically the actions of Activision means that new devs are stearing clear of them when seeking a publisher. You still get the odd muppet who sells their souls to these devils but, people are starting to realise that getting screwed isn't a way to run a successful business.

    The sad thing is that even when Activision start to stumble. EA are just going to rush to fill the void and the whole sorry saga will begin anew. How did Wesley Snipes put it "There's always some mother&*^ker trying to ice skate up hill".

  • schnide #17 2 years ago

    Mr Loverman!

  • the_mtfr #18 2 years ago

    Hell, 61 devs working on a Spider-Man? This is Blizzard-style development (Ubisoft too), that's 2 million a year just for salaries.

  • schnide #19 2 years ago

    Sorry penhalion, disagree with you there. EA are a company first and always will be, but I'd be surprised if they go back to the ways of old anytime soon.

  • RobotRocker #20 2 years ago

    Turns out they didn't beat EA either

    [link url=http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/gui tarhero5/news.html?sid=6232261
    ]http://uk .gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/gu...[/link]

    Telling your shareholders porkies? Bad, bad move.

  • ZuluHero #21 2 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    "Hell, 61 devs working on a Spider-Man? This is Blizzard-style development (Ubisoft too), that's 2 million a year just for salaries. "

    Nah, Ubi had a team of 450 people working on Ass Creed 2.

    First google hit: [link url=http://news.softp edia.com/news/Assassin-039-s-Creed-2-Has-450-People-Working- on-It-112126.shtml
    ]http://ne ws.softpedia.com/news/Assassin-...[/link]

    And Blizzard must have many hundreds of people on their games.
    Edited by 1 at 12/10/09 @ 09:35

  • LudusSolers #22 2 years ago

    Just in time for Thanksgiving too. Yet more amoral practice from Activision; I really do wonder if they are going out of their way to act like complete muppets. I hope the team can find new roles soon.