Bad Brain Game Studios, founded by former Ubisoft developers including those who worked on Watch Dogs: Legion, will be shutting down on the 17th November. The studio has been unable to acquire necessary funding after Netease pulled the plug.
A sizzle reel for Bad Brain’s upcoming game Midnight Riders was uploaded to the company’s LinkedIn page, alongside a statement from the studio about the closure as well as an emphasis that the IP remains available for “acquisition or partnership”.
The statement reads: “Despite our continuing efforts to seek a new partner for the project, a path forward has yet to materialize. We are deeply grateful to NetEase Games for their support and for giving us runway to explore every possible opportunity. Our team poured everything into this journey — pushing creative and technical boundaries every day with passion, imagination, and craft. What we achieved together stands as lasting proof of this team’s extraordinary talent.”
It continues: “The enthusiastic response our project has received is a direct reflection of that creativity and dedication. While the outcome may not be what we had hoped for, I’ve seen firsthand that we succeeded in reaching players and peers who believed in what we were building. To those who supported the game, shared encouragement, and championed our vision — thank you.”
This marks the latest in a long string of studio woes as a direct result of Netease’s withdrawal from Western game development. It was only last month that Fantastic Pixel Castle announced it’ll shut down for the same reason, as did T-Minus Zero back in September.
According to Bad Brain Game Studios’ LinkedIn page, the company employs between 11-50 employees, all of which will be out of work during an especially treacherous period in the video game industry.