Namco splits with Splatterhouse dev, game will be finished

by Randy Nelson on Feb 9th 2009 3:59PM

Namco Bandai has confirmed that its upcoming next-gen reboot of Splatterhouse -- which we just saw at New York Comic Con -- is no longer in development at Bottlerocket Entertainment. Development of the game, which was the studio's only project, will be completed, although Namco isn't saying who will finish the work.

When approached for comment on the situation, Bottlerocket told us that, "Last Friday, Namco showed up with a U-Haul truck, took all their assets (dev kits, etc.) and informed management that the title was being pulled from Bottlerocket."

Namco would not discuss specifics of the move, saying only that, "Yes, we have decided to part ways with Bottlerocket Entertainment but we are committed to bringing Splatterhouse to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year. At this time, we are not ready to discuss specific development details about the game and wish Bottlerocket the best of luck in their future endeavors."

The job of finishing Splatterhouse is rumored to have gone to the same in-house Namco Bandai team responsible for the recently-released Afro Samurai.

Source

Tags: bottlerocket, namco-bandai, PS3, splatterhouse, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (25)

Translation "it sucks".

No this is "the montreal screwjob" all over again.

Beware new developers:

All your work could be taken any second without any notice and other will take the credit for your work. Sad stuff. Almost like Hollywood writers.

Namco = EA

http://www.bottlerocket.com/

I like how they still have that game "coming in 2009" on their website.

They're clearly not on top of things... sucks if you're working for that company though, since that was their only project.

The best part is if you go to their company info, their "award winning" The Mark of Kri...

81% on Game Rankings... oh and it's art style looks like something taken out of the Emperors Last Groove.

mark of kri is a great game and the art style is part of what makes it so enjoyable, but it and it's sequel are 2 of my favorite games so take it how you will

The Mark of Kri was definitely not a bad game. One can even say God of War took some inspiration from it.

I would certainly prefer Bottlerocket to develop the game rather than the studio in charge of Afro Samurai....

That game looks horrible....

I'll agree with you on that Noshino. Taking away a game, mid production from those involved is an insult... so something probably happened to cause this that we don't know about. I will say though that Kri was a better game than Afro Samurai.

I know if I was sacked and all my equipment was taken without any notice I'd rush home and update the website for the company that doesn't exist anymore...

Get off your high horse Mike.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/buzzquiztv

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/freedomthebattleforlibertyisland

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/starwarsjedistarfighter

You're telling me that since Star Wars: Jedi Star Fighter also got an 81% that it's "UNIVERSALLY ACCLAIMED"

You're an idiot if you stand by that logic.

Also I never said anything about 100%'s... if you're looking for a place that hands those out try Game Informer. I'm quite aware that very few games get over a 90%. That's why I stated 90 to 93+ were truly "award winning."

If you want to cry about me calling Mark of Kri an average game because of your inner fanboy loving it's button mashing gameplay filled with constantly repeated animations for impaling/dismemberment etc all amidst a story that is all to common... by all means do so.

But when I call a game average for being an 81% it is average... to me a game in the 70% is bleh and in the 60%'s is worthless.

Anyway please... tell me about the games I listed and how "UNIVERSALLY ACCLAIMED" they are!

Talk about diluted, look in a mirror.

Sorry buddy, but this

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/godhand

to date, God Hand still considered by many fans as the best brawler out there, yet many that have played the game have no idea as to how the hell most of the media didn't get it.

An average rating of 73 does no merit to what this game accomplished.

I was attacking his ridiculous logic that an 80% meant a game was good.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/n64/mysticalninja

This game got a horrible review, and I actually love it (even though I said 60 scores for the most part get a poo poo from me)

I'm aware that many games aren't "gotten" by the media.

My point though was that Mark of Kri was is not a "UNIVERSALLY ACCLAIMED" game.

It was an average game that gained a huge fan following due to unique gameplay at the time (which as one user commented, was inspired within God of War).

My stance will remain that Mark of Kri was an average game... not a bad game, not an amazing game.

An average game that is enjoyable to play to the end and then moving on for the AVERAGE PLAYER... who are probably not on a website like this posting.

@DigTheDoug

Only problem is the company DOES STILL EXIST.

Your sarcastic comment attempt to be funny; but it would only be so if it was true.

They only lost the right to make the game and thus lost all "assets" given to them by Namco.

Hence why the article says "Bottlerocket told us that, "Last Friday, Namco showed up with a U-Haul truck etc"

If they didn't exist you'd probably see something about how everyone was laid off and a former employee told Joystiq of what happened.

All this means is they will have to get picked up by another publisher to make a new game. They've been around since 2002 (long before this game was in production).

Mark of Kri did win awards. In particular the combat system as well as the art design you shat on were among the contributors there. Mark of Kri may be a joke to you but it's system gave a fresh injection to a genre that was rapidly dying. And it won awards for that. But if you check Metacritic again, you might notice the reviews are hugely varied. Many sites giving high nines while others giving sixes. This tells me something.

In all likelyhood, the outlets that gave really high scores would also be the outlets that gave the awards. Now, in the words of Topher Cantler... shut your whore mouth.

Sheepy, you're just as stupid as the rest of the people here.

The art was similar to the Emperors New Groove... compare and contrast. How is that an insult? It's an observation idiot.

I never said Mark of Kri was a horrible game. I said it "WASN'T UNIVERSALLY ACCLAIMED." Which I am completely right about.

I also never said it was a joke fool. Did you even read everything I wrote? You and all the other blaming retards on this site have the attention spans of insects.

The gameplay was a repetitive button mashing fest... even if it was "innovative" which I GAVE CREDIT FOR (again learn to read). Gameplay doesn't define a game though... the story was bleh, overall, the art was alright (nothing amazing), and the music was ok as well.

I said Mike was an idiot for saying any metacritic rating of 80%+ was universally acclaimed.

You got all choked up over some game you jerked off to in middle school and didn't bother to read past my negative spam voted, posts.

So shut your whore mouth.

Mark of Kri wasn't a bad game.

It wasn't "AMAZING" either. It was just a simple game that didn't F up anything big, so it got an plain 81%. A great, award winning caliber of a game should be 90%+ (more like 93%+)

OMGZ an 81%??

Since when is an 81% not a score a developer should be proud of? For most publications, an 80 plus score rates as great or excellent. In Metacritic's words, games that score an 80 or higher are "universally acclaimed." Which would make Mark of the Kri a great game from a critical standpoint.

Maybe all of these ridiculous 100's games are getting these days has diluted your idea of what a good rating is.

Did it win awards? If so then they can call it award winning. There problem solved.

I don't have my hopes up for this game. Anytime a studio has to take over for another studio, it's a bit of a learning curve - just going from some other team's source and style and process is a chore. It's mitigated by good documentation and such, but I'm guess it will still suck for any new studio to finish this game.

Kotaku is saying that this MIGHT be because Bottlerocket basically sucked. Missing deadlines, turning in sub-par work and all around just not doing a sufficient job on the game. If that's the case, it's still a dick move from Namco, considering the game is set to go Gold in about a month...but at least understandable.

Namco games sucking? hasn't that stuff been happening for years now?

So...pretty much confirmed to be sent to die, right?

Can anyone fill me in as to why they decided to bring this back?

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Namco splits with Splatterhouse dev, game will be finished

Reader Comments (25)

Posted: Feb 9th 2009 4:04PM Dirty said

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