Activision closes 'Web of Shadows' dev Shaba [update]
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Oct 8th 2009 at 10:01AM }
Activision's Shaba Games, which most recently developed Spider-man: Web of Shadows, has allegedly been shuttered. Kotaku reports that sources with knowledge claim the studio closed yesterday; attributing the corporate downsizing to sluggish sales of Guitar Hero 5.
Approximately 30 employees were reportedly laid off at Shaba, which is roughly half the workforce Shaba claims to have -- an eerily similar fate that apparently befell Activision's 7 Studios earlier this week. We're currently following up and will update with any new information.
Update: Activision confirmed the studio's closure with this statement: "Activision continually evaluates the resources at our studio properties to ensure that they are properly matched to our product slate and overall strategic goals. As part of this process, we recently made the difficult but necessary decision to close Shaba Studios. We are grateful for the studio's contributions and wish this talented team success in their future endeavors."
Gallery: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom Kalinske, Former CEO of Sega of America @ Oct 8th 2009 10:04AM
Activision is shuttering a lot of studios lately. And 'poor sales of GH5'-could the music genre finally be dying?
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Oct 8th 2009 10:22AM
It died with Super Guitar Hero 4: Remix Dream Fight 2009 HD Mega Mix
Temidien @ Oct 8th 2009 10:30AM
I'm sure poor sales has more to do with music games being thrown at genre fans monthly than it does gamers' weening interest in the genre.
CJLopez @ Oct 8th 2009 3:04PM
was guitar hero a capcom or square enix franchise?
NaeemTHM @ Oct 8th 2009 10:13AM
Awww...that's a shame. Shaba did a pretty good job with Web of Shadows. It really only suffereed from a weak story. The gameplay was fun as all hell.
I hope this doesn't mean the franchise will go back to Treyarch...they did a terrible job with the previous Spider-Man games.
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio [Planeteer | Power of the Anti-Fanboy Bitch Slap] @ Oct 8th 2009 10:29AM
I really enjoyed the gameplay, the story kind of sucked, but it was cool to see all the different Marvel characters.
Reboot @ Oct 8th 2009 10:36AM
The camera was frustrating, and the story kind of weak (but not abysmal, in my opinion).... but the gameplay was a lot of fun!
whylekat @ Oct 8th 2009 6:02PM
It was still too repatitve.
Seriously for the achievements you have to kill an absurd amount of guys. And it's only an absurd amount because they already task you with killing a ridiculous amount of guys just for the main story.
aristokrat @ Oct 8th 2009 6:24PM
I just played through this last week, and did enjoy it immensely. It had it's fair share of bugs though, like the terrible locked-up or -down camera after you climbed a wall to a roof. My favorite bugs (though hard to do) were getting Spidey stuck in a building (couldn't get out, had to reload) and "falling" from one vertical surface and landing on another across the street (with no "downward" gravity effects). Still, Spiderman games are fun because swinging through the streets is fun, and the combat was a little more varied in this one that previous games.
Regarding the kill a ton of guys achievements, at least they didn't have the stupid gold races (where the camera was your biggest opponent) or the swing 200 miles. Additionally, it was a nice touch that the second half of the collectibles showed on your map.
Bulletbillx @ Oct 8th 2009 9:15PM
They should let Radical Entertainment make a spider-man game. Hulk: ultimate destruction was awesome. Prototype was also awesome and had some spider-man/venom/carnage-like powers.
abelpc @ Oct 8th 2009 10:19AM
Maybe activision should be getting rid of the idiot at the top instead of firing hard working developers.
Jose [Steam & PSN: Assmar] @ Oct 8th 2009 11:59AM
Here, here! He's the one causing all the vitriol against the company. I'm glad IW had the balls to say that their parent company didn't want them to go Modern with the CoD series (which they effing crafted). They're turning off formerly loyal customers, with this nickle/dime shit, and I can't understand how the bottom line does not reflect our new found hatred for the leadership. This stance is a little tough to take, when we see hardworking devs getting laid off. Save millions of dollars and fire management!
Blind Io @ Oct 8th 2009 12:32PM
i think the problem we have here is the person in charge of firing is the idiot at the top
John Z @ Oct 8th 2009 10:19AM
Did Shaba have ANYTHING to do with the development of GH5? If they did and GH5 "underperformed", then it makes sense, but I'd be more willing to believe that it's just a convenient excuse. I could be wrong, of course, and I welcome anyone to show me evidence that I am wrong.
What I think is happening is that Activision over-promised on GH5's sales projections, it's coming back to bite them in the ass, and now they need to recover those missed revenues by any means necessary. (In the magic land of hyperbole this means Kotick paces up and down a line of bounty hunters, sternly reminding one that firing employees means "no disintegrations".)
Alexisonfire @ Oct 8th 2009 10:26AM
One studio makes one game. It's suppose to be big. It wasn't really.
Another studio makes other games. They make other games. They perform to expectations.
The second studio is closed.
^_-
AndrewMP @ Oct 8th 2009 10:29AM
Really, what contributions would they have really made to the industry? Another Spider-man/licensed cash-grab? It's too bad when creative minds lose their jobs, it just sucks a lot less when their creativity hasn't been all that creative.
Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 8th 2009 1:23PM
You didn't play Web of Shadows, did you?
Temidien @ Oct 8th 2009 10:27AM
Off topic, but this post just reminded me of what an epic fail the Venom movie will eventually be.
Possibility of Topher Grace reprising his role? Check.
Venom as an anti-hero helping save civilians? Check.
Possibility of Carnage showing up as a major villain? Check.
Recipe for disaster.
Reboot @ Oct 8th 2009 10:33AM
Spinning off anything from that crap of a movie would be an epic disaster... Any movie that has Peter Parker performing in not one, but TWO, dance breaks deserves to die a fiery, flaming death!
Rocket Raccoon @ Oct 8th 2009 11:40AM
Topher Grace most likely won't be reprising his role due to the fact that he's currently attached to the new Predator movie.
5-Piece Chicken Dinner @ Oct 8th 2009 5:50PM
He acting was crap in Spider-Man 3 and he didn't put much effort into his character. To me, he'll always be FOREMAN!!!!!!!!
Reboot @ Oct 8th 2009 10:30AM
That's a shame... The game was flawed, but overall, I really enjoyed playing it! Hopefully the laid off employees will land on their feet with a new development studio quickly!
CAHLITO @ Oct 8th 2009 10:40AM
Awww, this sucks WoS was a pretty decent game 8-7/10. only thing that was weak was the camera and the storyline. Other than that I had a blast playing it. Sad to see them go.
Rein [Prime Minister of the city-state of New Bjork] @ Oct 8th 2009 10:46AM
That blows hard. Web of Shadows was the best Spiderman game since Spiderman 2. They even put Moon Knight in it! I was really wishing they'd even-somehow-maybe-not-really-but-hopefully develop a Moon Knight game just for me. ;__;
Old Professor Zertoss @ Oct 8th 2009 11:05AM
With this and the "Call of Duty should only be a WW2 shooter!" story, I'm convinced that Activision is run by J. Jonah Jameson.
What's next? Are they gonna try and get Blizzard to cancel Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 in order to crank out 6 new WoW expansions before the end of next year? Have they already tried that?
Donald @ Oct 8th 2009 12:47PM
I'm sure they have, but considering Blizzard brings in $n a month (where n is a minimum 10-digit #) in WoW subscriptions with the existing content, they can afford to tell Kotick to shove it.
lupinesithlord @ Oct 8th 2009 11:18AM
Heck web of shadows was the best spide game since spiderman for the atari 2600...
Jose [Steam & PSN: Assmar] @ Oct 8th 2009 12:00PM
You mean Spider-Man 2?
Rob47 @ Oct 8th 2009 11:21AM
The problem with Activision is it owns the two biggest names in gaming. That lets it do pretty much whatever it wants. Idiots.
Vader582 @ Oct 8th 2009 11:22AM
So Activision closes a studio that had nothing to do with GH5?! Why not close Neversoft and NEVER make another GH again? That should solve you're lagging sales issue.
I swear Activision has replaced EA as "industry-douchebags"...
Prestidigitator @ Oct 8th 2009 11:38AM
7 and 3 tenths is an awfully precise score!
Prestidigitator @ Oct 8th 2009 11:41AM
Meant as a reply to cahlito :(
IGLAW @ Oct 8th 2009 11:48AM
My only memories of Web of Shadows are MY GOD THIS PC PORT IS TERRIBLE ARE THEY EVER GOING TO FIX THIS MESS?
So I don't feel much.
Brad @ Oct 8th 2009 11:57AM
Neversoft puts such a crappy setlist in Guitar Hero 5 that nobody wants to buy it, even with free GH:Van Halen. Sooo, they fire a bunch of employees unrelated to the Guitar Hero franchise.
That's a logical explanation...
...for me to poop on.
Jose [Steam & PSN: Assmar] @ Oct 8th 2009 12:02PM
Thanks for the respectful tone you guys have been carrying with your stories about layoffs. We notice these things. You guys are alright.
WRYYYYYY @ Oct 8th 2009 2:07PM
This article:
- sluggish sales of Guitar Hero 5
Article yesterday:
- Guitar Hero 5 trounced The Beatles: Rock Band in the UK
...what.
Crayfish @ Oct 8th 2009 7:15PM
Because it's "fun as hell"!!
koehler83 @ Oct 8th 2009 2:43PM
They probably couldn't renegotiate the Marvel licenses from Disney, which isn't surprising considering Disney has their own games division. Without the Marvel IPs, Shaba's pretty useless.
Actually that makes me think that the long list of terrible marvel movie tie-ins Activision has been responsible for will finally end. Granted, they've been responsible for a couple good ones, the overwhelming majority were terrible.
Alive @ Oct 8th 2009 5:12PM
"attributing the corporate downsizing to sluggish sales of Guitar Hero 5"
Wait... didn't Activision say yesterday that Guitar Hero 5 sold well because it was just so much fun?
bemaggg @ Oct 9th 2009 12:23AM
Like killing the cow because the chicken didn't lay enough eggs. Makes no sense.
t_m @ Oct 9th 2009 7:05AM
I'm convinced all these big publishers are run by idiots. they close one studio per game, then those guys make a new studio or two, then th publishers buy them. Then they close them. repeat.
Why don't they just keep a decent, permanent stable of studios and stop all the waste? It's like if i bought a new car for every week, because i threw away the old one each week.
webkatt @ Oct 11th 2009 5:42PM
am i the only one wishing for another marvel rise of the imperfects?