Activision closes Shaba, halves 7 Studios

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".