FASA Studio is dead

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 12th 2007 at 11:45PM }

FASA Studios, the company behind Shadowrun, is no more -- it has ceased to be. The announcement was made after close of business today on the Shadowrun boards. The post states that those who did not move onto other positions at Microsoft Game Studios are now out of work. A Community Manager and Tech Support Manager will still have a job to support the game, the post says they chose to wait on the announcement because they "didn't want people's attention distracted from our last product Shadowrun, a game we love."

Well, at least they did. We said it before and we'll say it again: Poor Shadowrun! The game probably could not have had more things going against it. It was the perfect storm of a half-game with some peripheral Vista drama, going out to an uninterested audience, during the worst time imaginable for an online game during the Halo 3 beta. Shadowrun was just so absolutely doomed. Goodbye FASA, hopefully your splintered team will show what they're truly capable of next time.

[Thanks Wes and Michael]

Tags: fasa, shadowrun

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Vegnagun @ Sep 12th 2007 11:51PM

I wish I could say something sad, but they made Shadowrun. Shadowrun could have been so much better if it was more than a few maps and only online play. Maybe if they balanced the elves with katanas...

Forest @ Sep 13th 2007 12:01AM

Shadowrun could have been so much better if it cost 30 bucks when it came out instead of 60

TehSilentOne @ Sep 13th 2007 1:01AM

half the skills in the game balance out the elves w/ katanas. ^__^ i love the free points i get from those noobs

DaMan09 @ Sep 13th 2007 1:34AM

Aww damn. I just realized that since FASA is no more, there is virtualy no chance of getting any new maps or weapons DAMN!

phattie @ Sep 12th 2007 11:55PM

FASA, who?

hvnlysoldr (NDF - Wind Ring) @ Sep 12th 2007 11:57PM

Two skits that stick out were in the DVD commercials. Well three, This parrot has ceased to be, No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, Tis only a flesh wound. Sad to say I haven't watched much. I have read the script to the Monty Python's Holy Grail doodad.

Mr Slavio @ Sep 13th 2007 1:37AM

What's going on with this post? I came here for an argument!

Matt B (SDF - White Gold Ring) @ Sep 12th 2007 11:59PM

This is the start of something we have never seen. The 360 has TOO MUCH!!!. With 3-4 titles hitting XBL or retail every week, no one can keep up. And companies that don't have a lot of capital are going to feel the pinch. The 360 has a big install base. But the ADD crowd gets pointed in so many directions every week that so much stuff goes unnoticed. Unnoticed doesn't pay any bills much less gets your money back. You guys talked high of Shadowrun, then never bought it. It just goes to show that your mouth isn't where the money is.

Andoru (XOF - Andoru) @ Sep 13th 2007 12:01AM

See what happens when you don't make Crimson Skies II?!? It could have been an even HIGHER road...to even MORE revenge!!

Sean @ Sep 13th 2007 10:33AM

lol

Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Sep 13th 2007 12:05AM

I really liked the studio. I especially liked that Discovery Channel program that showed the studio and the pressure they were under to make Crimson Skies. It's a great online dog fight game. I was hoping for a sequel a little similar to War Hawk maybe.

Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Sep 13th 2007 12:07AM

^^^

That's just a lame post. Go troll the PS3 Fanboy page.

Andoru @ Sep 13th 2007 8:24AM

Maybe it was, but with a name like "Smoke_Dawg_187" do you really think you have the authority to judge what's lame?

Arturo @ Sep 13th 2007 12:16AM

Yeah I would've bought shadowrun had it started out at $30

baby sea tuna @ Sep 13th 2007 8:43AM

Yeah, join the club.

muppetmeth @ Sep 13th 2007 12:18AM

So sad. Hopefully there will be a musical about Vista in 50 years.

LordMinogue @ Sep 13th 2007 12:36AM

Now we'll never get to play MechWarrior 5

feffrey @ Sep 13th 2007 12:42AM

NOOOOOOOOO not fasa sure shadowrun sucked, but battletech and mech warrior!!!!

blooh @ Sep 13th 2007 2:16AM

eww a grasshopper somehow got through the window screen into my room

Trashman @ Sep 13th 2007 3:28AM

Damnit! Guess this means all hope is lost for mechassault on the 360

fyreblazer @ Sep 13th 2007 10:32AM

hey, you got Armored Core & Dynasty Warriors: Gundam....so you know....there's that...

Trashman @ Sep 13th 2007 7:27PM

Dynasty warriors sucks cause its so damn repetitive and to take the franchise and mash it with gundam was a horrible idea. I want a actual good gundam game and if it happens, I will be happy

cybereality @ Sep 13th 2007 3:39AM

Its only fair after the bang-up job they did on Shadowrun.

I hope other developers take notice. Next time you want to take an awesome franchise and crap on it, just remember: The gaming gods will transcend time and kill your studio. FASA got what they deserved.

mietha CAG @ Sep 13th 2007 4:15AM

I just hope they don't let the properties die. I still hold out hope for a good Battletech or Shadowrun game, like the good old days...

Arminator @ Sep 13th 2007 6:24AM

Basically, as soon as I heard, that Shadowrun is "just" a Counterstrike with Magic, I had lost all hope for FASA.
I had *so* hoped for a new Mechwarrior game. I mean, I bought a Sidewinder Gamevoice back then just to plan strategies with my friends in a match.
I bought the Steel Batallion Controller with an Xbox Adapter for my PC, just to find out, Mechwarrior Crashes, if it sees a Joystick with more than 32 buttons.

Damn you FASA. As sorry as I am for this studios closing, they also deserve it.

I don't know if I should be sad or mad about it...

Donald @ Sep 13th 2007 8:13AM

It's not pining, it's passed on. This studio is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late studio. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the 360, it would be pushing up the daisies. Its metabolic processes are now history! It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-studio!

Jordan @ Sep 13th 2007 8:24AM

FASA,

If any of you read this, please take this as my thank you for all of your work. Shadowrun is the best game on 360 and is the only game (besides bioshock) that I have played in the past 3 months.

I've gotten all of my friends to join in on the fun and they all agree, shadowrun is AWESOME!

Never has there been such a balanced MP experience, and no game has ever had so much replay for me (other than maybe 007 goldeneye).

I wish you all the best, and please please release those last 5 maps that you worked on!! We all love the game so much!

Since the game has dropped to $40, I've gotten even more people to buy it!

It's sad to see that no one will appreciate this hidden gem like I do, but thank you nonetheless - it was fun while it lasted!

Oh, and I'll still see you all around Shadowrun ;) I'm on every night!

xVA DisASter Us @ Sep 13th 2007 9:02AM

I guess I'm one of the few who thought/thinks that Shadowrun was worth the full $60 I paid for it. Sure, it's different than what most people seem to have been expecting... and yeah, there's no campaign, but I really love the multiplayer. I don't blame FASA for not including a campaign, if they knew that it wouldn't be as good as the multiplayer.

It's really sad that it got panned by the critics, because most of the reviews I read were too busy bashing the fact that there's no single player to judge the game based on what it actually IS. (because I guess unwritten rules say that any game that has multiplayer HAS to have a tacked on campaign, or the entire product will suck.)

Tridus @ Sep 13th 2007 9:21AM

Maybe it would have sold better if they didn't put a Vista-only requirement on it and thus lock out 90%+ of PC gamers for no apparent reason.

While its always sad to see people out of work, they released an overpriced multiplayer-only game that almost nobody on PC could play and that bore no relation to the franchise it was named after.

Exactly how did anybody think that would translate into success?

skeez @ Sep 13th 2007 9:55AM

FASA,

Thank you for Shadowrun. And Battletech. And MechWarrior. And Crimson Skies. And Earthdawn.

I played a LOT of Battletech on my table. And a LOT of Shadowrun in the kitchen. And only a little Mechwarrior on my Xbox, and a tiny bit of Shadowrun on my TV.

Thank you.

FM @ Sep 13th 2007 10:20AM

There goes MechWarrior..damn.

dunlop @ Sep 13th 2007 10:26AM

Until Bioshock, Shadowrun was easily my most played 360 game. I received it as a gift and was amazed at how amazing the MP was.

It was definately rushed and see how it received the reviews it did. The biggest mistake was making it a full price title.

Sean @ Sep 13th 2007 10:35AM

I beta'd Shadowrun and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't think it was as bad as everyone made it out to be.

The Unworthy @ Sep 13th 2007 11:14AM

"We said it before and we'll say it again: Poor Shadowrun! The game probably could not have had more things going against it. It was the perfect storm of a half-game with some peripheral Vista drama, going out to an uninterested audience, during the worst time imaginable for an online game during the Halo 3 beta. Shadowrun was just so absolutely doomed."

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Don't give me that perfect storm crap. Shadowrun had every chance and they blew it. The game was online only, shallow, and glitchy. Were this the budget title it was so clearly meant to be it would have been successful (think Serious Sam or Earth Defense Force). At a fair $20 or $30 price tag it would have done far better. Instead they charged $60. $60! That is greed, plain and simple. Consumers saw that and rightly said "No. Fuck that."

Shadowrun had every chance. They blew it so don't try and blame fate or some other mysterious third party. Don't sugar coat it.

Monster @ Sep 13th 2007 11:34AM

Don't blame FASA for Microsoft's bullshit. It's not their fault that it was Vista only.

T3H WICKERMAN @ Sep 13th 2007 11:51AM

See you in hell you arogant fucks! W00t! Yes it was fun for awhile but the devs had their heads up their asses with the dc and support. I think they burned their budget with this game hard and knew the end was coming long ago. Maybe thats why there was no dc. Im pretty sure crimson skies 2 is still gonna happen, so ill take a cheap shot and say fasa would have just made it an fps anyway lol. Well if you fasa lot are the biggest fans of your game shadowrun youll have plenty of time to play it now you snide bastards! (kimoras a man!) thanks for once putting out good games!

T3H WICKERMAN @ Sep 13th 2007 11:51AM

arrogant

TiaMaster @ Sep 13th 2007 11:55AM

Looks like someone, (Unworthy) hasn't even played the game and is posting about it...
I hate comments sections.

Thats it, I quit.

Word Up, North Korea! @ Sep 13th 2007 12:12PM

They get what they deserve for deviating so greatly from the source material. Shadowrun should have been an action/rpg, not some shitty FPS that has almost nothign to do with the traditional Shadowrun story

enjoy the unemployment like, suckas

Charolastra @ Sep 14th 2007 12:18AM

Holy crap. Thank you. Shadowrun gets the worst possible use of the best possible IP award. They reaped exactly what they've sown. Word to your mother.

Spartacus @ Sep 13th 2007 12:24PM

For the love of all that is holy! Do you have any idea how long I have waited for the next mechwarrior?! And not the crappy mechassault version- the REAL deal. Mechwarrior was probably one of my top 5 favorite games on PC and I was hoping MS would get MW5 on the 360...

Some studio needs to pick up that IP pronto!

Trashman @ Sep 13th 2007 7:22PM

Mechassult is a damn good game dude. You have to give it credit. Its really the only mech series I have liked

Trashman @ Sep 13th 2007 7:23PM

Mechassault is a damn good game dude. You have to give it credit. Its really the only mech series I have liked

Alex @ Sep 13th 2007 12:25PM

so much for new content, upgrades, and poor design fixes. Oh maybe that last one has something to do with going out of business...

Todd @ Sep 13th 2007 12:53PM

Thats what you get when Microsoft buys your company. They should have stuck it out as an independent publishing Mechwarrior games with Activision.

Karaoke Ninja @ Sep 13th 2007 7:20PM

Well, now they can get Activision to make a new MechWarrior game and maybe it will actually be good.

Peter O'Donnell @ Sep 13th 2007 9:19PM

Despite lackluster reviews for Shadowrun, I really like the game and I have always been hopeful for downloadable content. But with the news of Fasa Studio closing the likelihood of this happening is almost non-existent. Therefore, I have made a petition to Microsoft Game Studio to make DLC for Shadowrun a reality.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SRDLC/petition.html

Anything you can do to support this effort would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hodgepodge @ Sep 17th 2007 4:17AM

I'd like to think that the contrast between Shadowrun and Bioshock is a little slice of proof that developers should always run with what is interesting and unique about their ideas, not with what marketing data suggests will sell.