Lair developer Factor 5 closes down

By Oli Welsh Published 15 May, 2009

Deal with Brash sank studio.

Factor 5, the California studio responsible for the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron games and Sony's ill-fated Lair, has closed down.

The studio signed with publisher Brash Entertainment last year. Brash's closure due to bankruptcy at the end of last year, leaving unpaid developer bills, was too much for Factor 5 to survive.

That's according to a statement by Achim Moller, boss of the studio's German parent company, on the developer's website.

"We are sorry to announce the closure of the San Rafael-based Factor 5, Inc. studio, but the obstacles created by the sudden bankruptcy of Brash Entertainment for the continuation of operations have turned out to be too great to overcome in the current economic climate," he said.

Factor 5's last game was 2007's disappointing PS3 dragon combat game Lair, but the studio is more fondly remembered for the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron space shooters it made for the Nintendo64 and GameCube.

Variety suggested that Factor 5 was working on a Superman game for Brash.

The German company, Factor 5 GmbH, remains unaffected by the closure.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Garulon #1 3 years ago

    the Curse of the PlayStation 3 strikes again!

    Factor 5 killed by Lair
    Free Radical killed by Haze

    Who's next?

  • degville #2 3 years ago

    Hopefully you, you really are a tw@t.

  • Mr_Bogus #3 3 years ago

    Apparently the original Cologne branch lives on.

    "Lair developer Factor 5"
    ...lest we forget Katakis, Turrican 1/2/3, Super Turrican, Rogue Squadron, Indy & The Infernal Machine, Rogue Leader, Battle For Naboo, Rebel Strike.

    Or are developers only as good as their last game?

  • Aretak #4 3 years ago

    No Lair 2? ;_;

  • Dizzy #5 3 years ago

    >Convert.ToInt32(txtColor.Text)

    Sadly yes..; that seems the way the world works.

    They made some good games... Lair was a big fuckup but it shouldn't have let to their downfall.

  • bad09 #6 3 years ago

    / moments silence for the Rogue Squadron series.

  • Solvalou #7 3 years ago

    I only hope the Turrican rights will revert to Manfred Trenz' hands now.

  • penhalion #8 3 years ago

    @farticusmaximus

    You're joking about the Wii right?

    No-one apart from Nintendo is making jack from that console. You certainly couldn't run a studio on the profits from a Wii game. That's why you don't see many good titles coming out on Wii.

    As for the studio closures. It's down to poor management and sub standard releases. There was no reason for Haze to be as bad as it was and Lair should have been Rogue Squadron with dragons. Making Haze in the time splitters mold would have pretty much guaranteed sales. I don't believe for a moment that free radical could have believed Haze was a good game but, they released it anyway!

    It's sad to mourn the loss of two studios who's past works were enjoyable but, let's not pretend that they didn't cause their own demise. They back the wrong horse, where other wiser studios were making cross platform games.

  • Rich72 #9 3 years ago

    i guess my hope of a next gen rogue squadron is up the swanny then, really wanted some tie fighter duals and the snow speeder and ATATs to be realized in hi-def. sad indeed.

  • Triggerhappytel #10 3 years ago

    It's a real shame they've closed down, but like others have said; budgets are such that independant studios' fates often lie with the success of one title.

    Lair was such a waste, too, because it had so much potential. It wasn't even the controls which were particularly bad; it was just bland on almost every level. They tried to design an X-Wing game but using dragons, and it really didn't work.

  • Garulon #11 3 years ago

    @degville - Who's the bigger twat, the twat who takes the piss out of PS3 fanbois or twats like degville who seem to think it's ok to call people twats? I think it's the latter.

    Twat.

  • Spekingur #12 3 years ago

    Well, Lair 5 in Germany is still active.

  • Floppy #13 3 years ago

    This is sorry news indeed. They were earmarked at one point to make a GC version of Pilotwings; but nothing came of that, sadly.

  • danathjo #14 3 years ago

    was Lair really THAT bad?

  • landlock #15 3 years ago

    @Solvalou From what I remember they didn't actually own the rights to the series' because they didn't develop all the Turrican games. I believe Rainbow Arts the publisher at the time had the rights and they were since brought by THQ giving them the rights to the series.

    Infact when Rainbow Arts were brought in the 90's they were developing a 3D Turrican but shortly after they were brought THQ cancelled the project. Alas the Turrican series has never been seen again...

    [link url=http://www.unseen64.net/2009/03/23/turrican-3d-pc-ca ncelled/
    ]http://ww w.unseen64.net/2009/03/23/turri...[/link]

    Factor 5 themselves were making Thornado on the Nintendo 64/Gamecube which was a spiritual spin-off to Turrican because they weren't allowed to use the name. Unfortunaly that was cancelled to.

    http://ww w.unseen64.net/2008/04/08/thorn...

  • Andee #16 3 years ago

    Lair wasn't actually that bad once it was patched. The implementation of the motion controls was somewhat broken, but using the sticks instead it controlled quite nicely, and the addition of a crosshair also greatly helped the combat.

  • Dizzy #17 3 years ago

    >Lair wasn't actually that bad once it was patched

    There is always one.

  • EmiliasHorse #18 3 years ago

    Bloody shame, I liked Factor 5.

  • konnsky #19 3 years ago

    TURRICAN! nuff said