Prizefighter dev counted out, Take-Two 'assessing' staff

Just under a month after shipping Don King Presents Prizefighter for Xbox 360, UK-based Venom Games is reportedly closing up shop. Computer and Video Games cites a source at the company, who divulged that Venom staff were informed of the closure Wednesday.

We contacted Take-Two, who published Prizefighter under its 2K Sports label, and were told by a spokesperson that it is currently "assessing the role of Venom Games in Take-Two's overall global studio system," and "in a consultation with the employees of Venom in relation to possible redundancies at the studio."
So it's not closing? Take-Two's official line is that "no final decision will be made until after the consultation with employees," which CVG reports has already happened ... if "consultation about redundancies" is a polite term for telling someone they've been sacked.

Venom Games was handling the Wii and DS versions of Prizefighter and had previously ported Human Head's Prey to 360. 2K Sports could not offer official comment on the fate of Prizefighter on Nintendo's platforms, but the games are still slated for September release according to numerous online retailers.

On an interesting note, CVG also makes mention that Venom Games was originally tapped to handle the PS3 port of Bioshock, which was, according to its source at the company, supposed to launch simultaneously alongside the Xbox 360 version. We now know that no less than four studios are handling BioShock for PS3, none of which are Venom. That's got to sting.

Tags: 2k-sports, closing, don-king-presents-prizefighter, venom-games

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joystiq Features





Featured Galleries

Arkedo Series 003: Pixel!

Arkedo Series 003: Pixel!

Quake Live (Christmas 2009)

Quake Live (Christmas 2009)

Final Fantasy XIV (12.24.09)

Final Fantasy XIV (12.24.09)

Stop Stress: A Day of Fury (WiiWare)

Stop Stress: A Day of Fury (WiiWare)

A Christmas Santa (iPhone)

A Christmas Santa (iPhone)

Xbox Live Music Games stores

Xbox Live Music Games stores

Trauma Team (12/22)

Trauma Team (12/22)

Dark Void Zero (DSiWare)

Dark Void Zero (DSiWare)

The Magic Obelisk (WiiWare)

The Magic Obelisk (WiiWare)

 


Team Joystiq

 
Chris Grant
Editor-in-Chief, Email
James Ransom-Wiley
Managing Editor, Email
Ludwig Kietzmann
Senior Editor, Email
Andrew Yoon
East Coast Editor, Email
Randy Nelson
West Coast Editor, Email
Justin McElroy
Reviews Editor, Email
Justin Glow
Developer, Email

Joystiq Podcast

New episodes every Friday! Now playing: Joystiq Podcast 121, for Friday, Dec., 18.



Archive | RSS | iTunes