Conflict developer Pivotal to close

By Robert Purchese Published 14 July, 2008

As a result of Eidos re-structuring.

Conflict: Denied Ops developer Pivotal Games is to close its doors, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Sources close to the company said 99 of the staff have been made redundant, with the rest expected to follow within three months as the studio is wound down completely.

Eidos revealed that a small number of staff will stay to work on other projects.

"Eidos' parent company SCi Entertainment Group announced on February 29 its plans to re-structure its business and to focus on cornerstone studios and core franchises," said a spokesperson for the publisher.

"As part of this process Eidos confirms that despite reviewing a number of alternative options, we are closing Pivotal Games but we will be keeping a team of 10-12 specialists in Bath - who will work on specific projects for the group."

SCi also plans to cut staff by around 25 per cent and cancel a number of projects in various stages of development.

Conflict: Denied Ops is the most recent in the war series and was released early this year on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Unfortunately it lacked the sort of substance many were after and only managed average scores. Head over to our Conflict: Denied Ops review to find out why.

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.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Vin #1 4 years ago

    Fuck.

    I was only in there the other day talking to a mate about the next conflict.

  • el_pollo_diablo #2 4 years ago

    Good luck to all who work(ed) there.

    Hope you all get better jobs with plenty more holidays and money.

  • Weezer #3 4 years ago

    The price of making just one shit game. Boy, this industry is harsh.

  • seasidebaz #4 4 years ago

    Balls. I wanted to work there.

    It's only down the road from me :(

  • brinlarden #5 4 years ago

    shouldnt have made a shit game, but claimed it was great then.
    i wasted £45 on that.

  • penhalion #6 4 years ago

    We are moving to a movie industry structure, where people are pulled in at various stages of the project, for just those stages and then let go. Sadly the wages don't match this model as at least movie people are paid enough that they can afford to drift from job to job and treat it like a mini vacation.

  • spongebob #7 4 years ago

    Pivotal were really good at making more or less mediocre games. It's too bad really :(

  • makeamazing #8 4 years ago

    Its a strange industry.. on one hand there is news and press releases saying that games are making more than Hollywood movies and there is continued growth, and then there are companies going under. Its about time the government stepped in and helped out alittle more with tax breaks, like they do with the UK film industry.

    As far as Eidos are concerned, they havent been doing too well for quite a while now.

  • Triggerhappytel #9 4 years ago

    Good luck, Pivotal staff, I hope you get work with a publisher less shit than SCidos.

  • rascoj64 #10 4 years ago

    don't understand this tax break argument, I mean why should a games or movie company be entitled to a tax break any more than a struggling highstreet shop, manufacturer etc.

  • T4RG4 #11 4 years ago

    'We are moving to a movie industry structure, where people are pulled in at various stages of the project, for just those stages and then let go. Sadly the wages don't match this model as at least movie people are paid enough that they can afford to drift from job to job and treat it like a mini vacation.'

    I can sometimes watch very average movies to the end and still tell people its okay, rent it and enjoy. Conflict: Denied Entertainment (sorry my turn) turned a lot of people away from the start. Games folk can kick a game when its down. Perhaps gamers earn the right to be harsh because this form of entertainment is a wee bit more expensive than renting a film when usually we buy.

  • MuppetThumper #12 4 years ago

    good bye Pivotal, about time too. You've been making shit games for years, the writing was always on the wall.