Rumor: PAIN developer Idol Minds lays off more than half of staff
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Oct 21st 2009 at 4:35PM } 
Kotaku's sources point to budget cuts from long-time publishing partner Sony Computer Entertainment. However, it's hard to ignore the irony of the team's namesake: other than a few expansion packs to PAIN, no major releases or game announcements have come out of the studio since 2007. What this means for the future of the PAIN franchise is unclear for now. Calls to both Idol Minds and SCEA were not returned.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Oct 21st 2009 4:44PM
my FIRST downloadable game i purchased from the PS3, it was fun for a week but that ended too quick. Haven't played it since they patched it for trophies. Too bad they made them ridiculously hard and DLC was required for at least one trophy.
Exemplar @ Oct 22nd 2009 2:38AM
the fun for you lasted a whole week? wow, you are one easily amused person!
I couldn't stand even 5 minutes. and that's being nice.
RKN @ Oct 21st 2009 4:49PM
All this news of layoffs in the game industry is getting very depressing. Best of luck to all of them in their future endeavors!
DeepFriedSushi @ Oct 21st 2009 5:07PM
with past experience its relatively easy to get future employment.
Pip @ Oct 21st 2009 4:51PM
I'm just curious why they had that many to begin with? PAIN seemed a lot like a game two people make sitting in their garage together.
SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Oct 21st 2009 4:53PM
Physics.
mywhitenoise @ Oct 21st 2009 5:05PM
What does physics have to do with anything? They used the Havok engine, the same one that's used in Motorstorm and other games.
DeepFriedSushi @ Oct 21st 2009 5:09PM
its probably because of the difficulty of ps3 development. also they may have expanded too quickly since they had sony as their publisher.
MLS @ Oct 21st 2009 4:54PM
ouch
Dustin @ Oct 21st 2009 4:58PM
Best school name ever
mywhitenoise @ Oct 21st 2009 5:04PM
Pain was the biggest waste of $10 I ever spent...actually it was a christmas gift, but still, that $10 could have bought something a lot better.
Phawx @ Oct 21st 2009 5:06PM
I wonder if it would have done better on XBLA? I can't believe Trials HD is still hitting the top charts.
DeepFriedSushi @ Oct 21st 2009 5:15PM
ya it probably would have but pain is just terrible
PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Oct 21st 2009 6:12PM
who cares, but makes me wonder how bad Flower would have done. If it doesn't have some kind of explosion on it, it does not sell well on XBLA
Phawx @ Oct 21st 2009 6:25PM
Sony Defense Force, please try to understand that this wasn't an attack on your system, but rather that PSN doesn't provide a better way to ascertain the how good a game is with a trial mode.
Also, if the 360 controller had an accelerometer in it, I am almost positive it would have sold better on XBLA, because of the sole fact we can try games before we buy them. Watching a video of Flower on PSN as the only means to motivate me to buy it, mean nothing. Because if you came into Flower with knowing *nothing* about it and watched the video of Flower on PSN, you would think that you only saw the trailer.
So if you were wondering if the 360 could first support Flower with an accelerometer and second was available on the 360. I would bet money it would sell better on 360 for the sheer fact that people could *try* before they buy. And realize that Flower is a really interesting *good* game.
ripslymemc @ Oct 21st 2009 5:28PM
school team name winnnnnnnnnnnn
ryan_gliebe @ Oct 21st 2009 5:48PM
Sooo... half their team got laid off, due to budget cuts, and all they've released in the last couple years are $5 expansions and $1 characters for a 2+ year old game? Maybe they should look into doing more... or possibly a second game this gen.
And, maybe, just maybe... if their minds weren't so idol, they'd make some money and keep people on the payroll. Supporting a game, through DLC, for fans, is one thing... but relying solely upon it for profit and ONLY developing such a thing is pretty dumb.
AerialAngel @ Oct 21st 2009 5:52PM
Ugh just lay off the rest and die already.
dgknight500 @ Oct 21st 2009 5:55PM
I got PAIN for free and I still think that I got ripped off. I'm glad to see that this game will finally die!
shadowhowl1900 @ Oct 21st 2009 5:57PM
this game is like Calling All Cars. Fun (or something new) for the first 3 days and then boring...
Danny @ Oct 21st 2009 6:01PM
Pain led to my nan asking my father what spank the monkey meant. Money well spent.
Galley @ Oct 21st 2009 6:12PM
I've wasted many an hour playing PAIN. Good luck to them.
shalter24 @ Oct 21st 2009 6:37PM
Maybe they should have made a game or two instead of trying to milk Pain for over two years...
Big D. @ Oct 21st 2009 6:53PM
Pain is awesome and always has been but I agree it's WELL past it's prime. Maybe if they had worked on something else, even a Pain 2 instead of all this DLC stuff, they would still have jobs. Who knows?
wes @ Oct 21st 2009 7:16PM
People who think pain isn't worth the $10 dollars in cost to buy it obviously haven't spend enough time with it...It's a pretty deep game if you give it a chance.
captainprotonx @ Oct 21st 2009 9:59PM
Painful.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
Jacksons @ Oct 21st 2009 10:51PM
Not surprising. Pain's a game that's only good in short bursts with friends in the first place, and they've been dawdling around with DLC for it for nearly two years. Try something new.
Lookhappy @ Oct 22nd 2009 4:09AM
Won't be a big loss.
While Pain is ok - it's too expensive, and how can a company of 46 not turn out anything new or substantial in 2 years! That's just crazy!
If it were down to me I'd sack them outright and put the money I saved towards a massive feast with my friends.
JeezWhiz87 @ Oct 22nd 2009 6:14AM
I don't have pain, never played it, and I'm not dropping $10 on it, but damn that's the funniest gymnasium floor I've ever seen.