Maximo dev closed down

By Ellie Gibson Published 24 May, 2006

Capcom's doing alright though.

Capcom has closed down Studio 8, the developer responsible for producing the Maximo titles for PS2.

Studio 8 most recently produced Final Fight Streetwise. Around 20 people have been made redundant as a result of the closure.

Surely it's a money saving exercise on Capcom's part - but the publisher isn't doing too badly as it goes, reporting an increase on annual profits of more than 90 per cent to just over £17 million. Capcom attributed the rise to healthy sales of Resident Evil 4, Monster Hunter 2 and handheld titles Mega Man Network 6 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

However, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, Without Warning and Beatdown didn't do so well, particularly in the West. In Europe, operating income fell by 89.6 per cent.

According to Capcom's financial report, the games industry has experienced growth during the next-gen console transition. However, "The launch of the advanced and sophisticated game hardware will result in an urgent need for software makers to address the problem of increasing development costs."

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About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • Beano #1 6 years ago

    No Maximo 3 then ?

    Bummer...

  • Lagto_Soa #2 6 years ago

    No Maximo 3 then ?

    I don't think there was ever much chance of that anyway, more's the pity. Capcom obviously have more important things for their people to do, like Final Fight Bollocksing Shitwise.

    Maybe they'll pull a Medievil one day and 'relaunch' the series (i.e. port and halfheartedly update the first game) on the PSP. Great...

  • Hangman #3 6 years ago

    I musy be one of the only people in the world that actually enjoyed final fight streetwise. infact, i finished the story twice! sure, the script was absolutely terrible and so was the forced cursing, but the fighting engine was damn good fun and brutal, with a good range of moves and responsive controls. growing up in the school of side scrolling beat 'em up or as i prefer to call it 'the walk and thump' genre of streets of rage, final fight and double dragon, ffsw' gameplay was a good nod to days passed. warriors was good to. ok i'm rambling...

    pity S8 have been closed though, maximo vs army of zin was fantastic.

  • wiper #4 6 years ago

    "In Europe, operating income fell by 89.6 per cent."

    Blimey. And Dawn of Dreams didn't do well? Though I'm not a particular fan of the series, I always thought that the Onimusha series kept a healthy following. Perhaps not?

    Oh well, better luck next year I guess. It'd be a pity to see Capcom having to close down any more studios.

  • Satan #5 6 years ago

    Oh, there's definitely going to be another Maximo. In the meantime pre-order those Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins copies.

    Judging by Final Fight Streetwise I'm pretty sure most of the Studio 8 talent was moved to other studios prior to shutdown anyway. Not a loss.

  • Teeth #6 6 years ago

    Except for those 20 jobs.

  • Kon #7 6 years ago

    "pity S8 have been closed though, maximo vs army of zin was fantastic."

    Couldn't agree more.

    You wouldn't happen to have tried your hand at Beatdown by chance? Though that game had more (much more) than it's fair share of problems, there were some good points to it. I would like to know how well it stacks up to FFSW from a perspective such as yours.

  • Satan #8 6 years ago

    "Except for those 20 jobs."

    Pfff.. not a big deal. They'll get new jobs.

  • Triggerhappytel #9 6 years ago

    "Pfff.. not a big deal. They'll get new jobs."

    Wow, you really are coldhearted, Satan...

  • tiddles #10 6 years ago

    Pity - both Maximo and its sequel were great.

  • toy_brain #11 6 years ago

    Arnt Capcom also in the process of shuting down Capcom Eurosoft - who hande the distribution of their titles in Europe?
    Well it says so at IGN here:
    http ://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/709/709826p1.html

    Wonder what this will mean for the speed and quality of their PAL releases?

  • LaundroMat #12 6 years ago

    There's a very clear analogy with the movie business. Somewhere in the 70s someone said that the movie industry is no longer an industry (you make something and want to sell it as much as possible), but a business (a finance-driven enterprise).

  • Satan #13 6 years ago

    "Wow, you really are coldhearted, Satan..."

    No, I'm not. Go out and buy Final Fight Streetwise.

  • Roddy100 #14 6 years ago

    "Wow, you really are coldhearted, Satan... "

    That's why he's called Satan :o)