Rebellion to close Derby studio

By Games Industry.biz Published 12 January, 2010

Rogue Warrior dev bites the dust.

Rogue Warrior developer Rebellion Derby is to be closed down.

The developer, which is spread across multiple locations, had to "review the need for the Derby facilities" as its Oxford and Runcorn teams grow.

CEO Jason Kingsley described the process as "painful". Staff in Derby are currently being consulted about their future. GamesIndustry.biz has heard that a number of staff have already been made redundant.

"Growth is sometimes painful, never more so than in the current climate and we have had to take a long hard look at how we operate our studio network," said Kingsley in a statement. "Strategically we have decided to review the need for the Derby facilities, and consultation with staff at Derby is ongoing."

The Derby studio, originally the Core Design team responsible for Eidos' Tomb Raider games, was acquired in 2006. The studio recently released Rogue Warrior: Black Razor.

The lease for the building is also coming to an end, and Rebellion has said that it intends to make further announcements on the studio in the coming weeks. Rebellion's Oxford studio is currently working on Aliens Vs Predator for publishing partner SEGA.

Picture of Games.

About Games Industry.biz

Read more articles from Games by visiting the Games Industry.biz archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (38) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Jesus: Action Figure #1 2 years ago

    Ouch :(

    More to add to the unfortunate tally: [link url=http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37103/11500-dev-layoffs-sinc e-08
    ]http://ww w.mcvuk.com/news/37103/11500-de...[/link]

  • el_pollo_diablo #2 2 years ago

    A shame. Good luck fellas.

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #3 2 years ago

    :( such a shame :(

  • Quint2020 #4 2 years ago

    Farewell Core Design, it's a shame for everyone working there but I'm afraid you've been making rubbish games for far too long....

  • Mkwone #5 2 years ago

    With respect to Rebellion Derby i've always wondered how studios who produce sub average games can survive.

  • Darkedge #6 2 years ago

    Another studio gone. Shame the government is willing to let UK games development die though it's refusal of tax breaks (which would only bring MUCH more money into the UK). Time to change career or country for me as there are no jobs here now. Nice one Labour.
    I expect in 20 years time they'll try and do something about it and it'll be as successful as their resurrection of the UK film industry, which if they acted now (cheaply) would be unnecessary.

  • Murton #7 2 years ago

    I don't think it's right to blame the HD consoles for studio closures. The publishers are more to blame for not supporting the studios properly through these difficult times, in this case Bethesda Softworks who didn't do enough to make Rogue Warrior stand out on the release calendar and secure the sales required to make the game successful.

    Obviously some blame has to go on the developer as Rebellion Derby and Core Design before them haven't been releasing stellar games for some time now but it's always bad to see major jobs cuts in any industry. I do however get the feeling that with the impending release of the near guaranteed big seller, AvP, that this is almost certainly a cost cutting exercise that has cost the jobs of some very talented and dedicated people. I wish Rebellion Derby all the best and hope they manage to get picked up elsewhere.

  • cianchristopher #8 2 years ago

    I think it's unfair to blame Bethesda for the failure of Rogue Warrior.

    The game is appalling, absoluely "one-of-the-worst-games-of-all-time" bad!!!

    Sad to see people lose their jobs, but c'mon! They've been shovelling shit for years now!

  • the_mtfr #9 2 years ago

    You fucking hypocrites. Would you feel sorry and cry for government subsidies if a restaurant that made such shitty and horrible food, that you cannot even eat, would go out of business?

    Just move to a communist country if you consider that everyone should have a job artificially maintained by some higher godlike entity, regardless if its produce is fecal matter or not.

  • Toothball #10 2 years ago

    Oh dear, my sister works there. She was showing me all the bits she had to do in Rogue Warrior over Christmas. After seeing those this might not be so bad for her.

  • Thedni #11 2 years ago

    Always a shame to see job losses in the industry, especially on hometurf. Best of luck for the future guys.

  • cianchristopher #12 2 years ago

    Well, I feel far sorrier for those poor unfortunates who bought Rebellion Derby's games (namely Shellshock 2 and Rogue Warrior) than I feel for the subpar developers responsible for making those shitty games.

    I think they are far more deserving of our sympathy...

  • Lutherian #13 2 years ago

    Its very sad to see skilled workers losing their jobs. I hope they find new employment very soon.

  • General_Zod #14 2 years ago

    It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under

  • GreyBeard #15 2 years ago

    @ciancristopher

    What a scummy thing to say. Shame on you.

  • TheTingler #16 2 years ago

    Had no idea Core Design became part of Rebellion. Still, the talent left there a long time ago. Sad, but more in a "respect for the past" kind of nostalgic way, rather than giving an actual, present-day shit.

  • cianchristopher #17 2 years ago

    In what way is it scummy?

    Rogue Warrior was sold as a full-price game, even though it is a mess...

    Do people just have a licence to manufacture terrible products? And then deserve our sympathy when market forces dictate that they are unfit to continue? I think not!

  • the_mtfr #18 2 years ago

    I see the angry mob has heavily voted down my previous post.

    I offered some words of explanation for my point of view, can any of you who vote me (or cianchristopher) down explain yourselves?

    I find it very scary that the majority thinks that jobs should just exist, perhaps given by God, where people can create stuff (games) that nobody wants.

  • darkmorgado #19 2 years ago

    "Never good for people to lose their jobs, but after Rogue Warrior I can't say I'm surprised by this news.

    Good luck to the former employees. "

    THIS.

  • jebus #20 2 years ago

    @the_mtfr "I see the angry mob has heavily voted down my previous post.

    I offered some words of explanation for my point of view, can any of you who vote me (or cianchristopher) down explain yourselves?"

    Because it sounds like you are laying the blame for people losing their jobs squarely on the employees - the day to day dev staff. In my experience in game development there are usually a lot more forces at work. What is to say the the game development wasn't badly managed? What's to say that the studio had to finish a total nightmare game that was started by another studio. What's to say the publisher just stopped funding the project and just released it in it's current state.
    There are a million and one possibilities - and in my experience probably more than one.

    The whole point about government tax breaks is simply because video games (even ones you don't like) are the only export that this country has left. We manufacture NOTHING any more and the video game industry is not going to be around long when it has to compete with the likes of forward thinking governments such as Canada. Why do you think there are so many companies either in Canada or relocating there. This is quite bad for the country at large and not just some communist thinking about everyone deserving a job as you put it.

  • GreyBeard #21 2 years ago

    @ciancristopher

    Making gloating comments when ordinary people are put out of work is just douchey. Especially in this economic climate.
    Equating buyer's remorse to people's livelihoods... your sense of proportion is so far out of whack its untrue.

  • JahB #22 2 years ago

    @jebus

    everything you say is entirely true, but the fact is that the day-to-day staff was well aware of what kind of horrid game they were about to ship; if any of these devs has worked on other games before, they were probably already looking for jobs, as it must have been very obvious for them how badly Rogue Warrior would bomb, especially against the competition that they sent the game up against.

  • cianchristopher #23 2 years ago

    @GreyBeard

    My comments were never gloating (I did say "sad to see people lose their jobs";)...

    But, am I supposed to feel bad that "Rebellion Derby" is no more?

    Well, I don't! It was a shit studio - pumping out lowest-common-denominator crap to the public!

    This is free-market capitalism! If nobody wants to buy the shit you're selling, then sell something else or shut up shop!

  • Skurmedel #24 2 years ago

    the_mftr: nobody does, but that doesn't mean the people working there are utter turds. I don't know, and I suspect most people here don't know what the conditions there are either. I think you have a right to think they should close down.

    However I think cianchristophers usual stance that people that work at "rubbish studios" should eat shit and die is a very weird one, for the above mentioned reasons. A view that was outspoken about GRIN for example, which I know had some smart people working for them.

    To draw an analogy, in Sweden Saab (car manufacturer) is about to be closed by GM. While it's sad that a lot of people are loosing their job, I think it should be closed down since they haven't made profits in ages. Still, it's not necessarily the staffs fault, they are the ones affected by it after all.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 18:43

  • GreyBeard #25 2 years ago

    Skurmedel's Saab analogy is an elegant one but I think the reality of it is closer to this:

    If you turn up at a stranger's funeral and proceed to tell the gathered what a c@nt the deceased was, and how he had it coming, don't expect a pat on the back.
    Edited by 2 at 12/01/10 @ 19:40

  • cianchristopher #26 2 years ago

    I never said people who work for "rubbish studios" should "eat shit and die"...

    I said that the studio should fail, if they aren't good enough...

    I'm sorry, but that's a fact of life. If I'm unfortunate enough to work for a shit company, that makes and sells shit products (even if it's not my fault, and I'm an honest and decent employee) then I shouldn't be too surprised when said company fails...

    I feel sorry for the innocent people in all of this, but that's how it goes sometimes. The management is to blame for this, since they are the policy-makers...

  • bing #27 2 years ago

    @Greybeard Unless he was a c@nt and had it coming.

    With the quality of the titles being released by this studio, regardless of internal/external factors I'm sure they knew they were living on borrowed time. When a developer such as Free Radical goes bust, I genuinely feel for the talented staff, with a company like this, not so much.

  • the_mtfr #28 2 years ago

    @jebus, Skurmedel. Nice of you to take the time :) I was *not* angry at the people who made those shit games on an individual basis. There is some good art in Rogue Warrior so I agree that there must be also good people working there. But I'm still not upset they lost their job. You know why? Because I wish for all the good people who were working there to find *better* jobs in other places, that they truly deserve.

    You know... good people, shit company, forcing the good people to make shit products, low morale, low professional development... that's my point. Why the hell to feel sorry for? It's common sense even they wish they worked in a better place where they could flourish.

    @Skurmedel, "I think it should be closed down since they haven't made profits". I don't agree. The difference in Saab is that they are making a damn good product. They should just work on their profits scheme. Saab would be similar to Bullfrog who made good games but sold to EA and were shut down or sold by piece. Which is different than this Derby studio, I think.

    @GreyBeard, you're hallucinating. Death? There is a real possibility for some of them to find new jobs in months. And for the others to be enterprising and make small independent games that provide some sort of a living.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 19:33

  • GreyBeard #29 2 years ago

    @bing

    The point I'm making is that there's a time and a place for making statements/judgements like that.
    Manners, human decency and all that, if you see what I'm saying?.

    I'm not saying you or ciancristopher should feel sorry for them, I'm just pointing out that its a douche move to post on an internet message board that affected individuals could possibly read, "that they had it coming" a day after they were made redundant.

    If it was you, or somebody in your line of work, wouldn't you think that its out of order?

  • Emousse #30 2 years ago

    FWIW Rebellion Derby were not solely responsible for Rogue Warrior, but I guess they are a convenient scapegoat.

    There were a lot of talented people there, and hopefully they will move onto places where they get the opportunity to show that.

  • GreyBeard #31 2 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    My "funeral" comment was a sledgehammer subtle metaphor for what type of reaction you're likely to get when you make classless, inflammatory comments in the wake of other peoples personal misfortune.

    Can you not comprehend that irrespective of whether there's merit to you view or not, perhaps sharing your opinion at the time isn't going to impress people? Because its not a sociable trait to disrespect people when they are down on their luck.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 19:54

  • the_mtfr #32 2 years ago

    @GreyBeard, that makes sense, but there were already people here calling the closure a shame, so that's when I figured I'd balance the situation with my negative opinion.

    Because a bigger shame than the closure were the wasted years and human emotions (such as the employers' dissatisfaction) working on something worthless, the plastic and metals used for the DVDs etc.

  • Mayhem64 #33 2 years ago

    I know someone at the Derby studio. Given I'm also leaving my job role at the end of the month, we've been commiserating together online...

  • vilegurl #34 2 years ago

    @ greybeard

    That was in no way a "sledgehammer, subtle metaphor" that was a strawman designed to detract from the central point, that a developer with a track record of producing distinctly average games has closed down.

    While it is unfortunate that many people have lost their jobs, that is to be expected in this climate, it has happened to a lot more people other than those at Rebellion Derby and while I do not wish to belittle the experience of the staff that worked there...

    ..it's not comparable to bad behaviour at a funeral. Not even in a strawman.

  • 3william56 #35 2 years ago

    Surely any of these people who do have talent will find new jobs, and probably end up on better projects? Blessing in disguise might be a better description?

  • BonzoBanana #36 2 years ago

    I'm not in this industry, wish I was but from an outside perspective it often seems developers are creating games that are doomed to failure from the start and this can only be put down to bad management.

  • noobjob #37 2 years ago

    well when you make tat like that in todays climate what do you expect........

  • GreyBeard #38 2 years ago

    @BonzoBanana

    Exactly right. What's particularly unfair in this situation is the way that the staff at Derby is being used as a scapegoat for those mistakes. The impression you'd get from this thread is that the Derby studio was solely responsible for RW which from what I've read is simply untrue. They did the multiplayer mode only, after their version of the single-player campaign was scrapped it was handed off to the Runcorn studio, both elements were hacked together in ~3 months.

    Why the rush? Probably something to do with Rebellion being the 3rd studio on the RW project...