Disney moves to close Split/Second developer Black Rock

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 1st 2011 10:04AM

Black Rock Studio, developer of Split/Second and Pure, will soon be blasted out of existence by the House of Mouse. In a statement provided to Eurogamer, Disney confirmed that none of the current projects at the studio were given the greenlight, and that employees had been told of an impending "consultation process" -- a 90-day phase under UK law warning of potential closure.

It's a sad end for a developer that deserved better. Pure and Split/Second were both critically acclaimed racing games that had a rough time finding an audience. Layoffs began at the studio several months back and a few of the top brass have already formed new outfits. Black Rock Studio's General Manager Tony Beckwith tells Joystiq he can't "comment at the moment" on the situation.

Via: GI.biz
Source: Eurogamer

Tags: Black-Rock, black-rock-studio, black-rock-studios, closure, Disney-Interactive, layoffs, microsoft, playstation, ps3, Split-Second, xbox

Reader Comments (38)

Where does it end, Disney? With Warren Spector's head on the doorstep of your so-called magical kingdom?

Disney is terrible.

Cars 2 is atrocious, now they are pushing Pixar to make Toy Story 4, and now this...

@eat it

Toy Story 4? Say it ain't so! PLEASE!

@JakeAuditore I know, right? Needs to stop. Don't ruin it!

@JakeAuditore

I know, it's almost like the other Toy Story movies wasn't each better than the last.

@JakeAuditore

yep, now that disney owns pixar you can expect Toy story 15, but by then it'll be straight to dvd

@eat it no disney channel then the next day BLU RAY

@eat it
Okay, Cars 2 was not that bad, I'd like to see where you get this Toy Story 4 rumor from. I follow Disney and Pixar closely and from what I know, Toy Story 3 was it, now it's Brave, a sequel to Monsters Inc, and possible an Incredibles sequel. While I do not agree with closing a great studio like BlackRock, this is business, their last two games, albeit good, did not make money.

@bradphillips204

TS4 rumor came from something Tom Hanks said during a press tour last week. He said something along the lines of "I think they're working on it now"

@baby sea tuna
Hmm, I had not heard about this until just now. Thank you!

@bradphillips204

I just preferred when pixar was under steve jobs. he trusted them enough to stay out of it, he gave them money while they came up with new ideas that were amazing.

Disney buys them and it's all sequels

@eat it
But that isn't necessarily Disney's fault. Pixar is still controlled by John Lasseter, and Disney doesn't really interfere. John Lasseter still controls Pixar creatively.

@bradphillips204

Sure he controls the creativity. but if the higher ups at Disney tell him to make Toy Story 4 then he has to figure out how to make Toy Story 4.

@eat it
Well, I don't necessarily know everything about Disney, but from what I understand, Pixar is left alone. Disney doesn't interfere, and that's why Steve Jobs is on the Disney board, he's like an adviser to Pixar, and as Disney's largest shareholder, I'd assume he still has a lot of influence.

NO they made some off my fave games all the fun I had on pure it's one of the most awesome games ever better then NEED FOR SPEED HOT PURSUIT

They also canceled one of my most favorite TV series, Legend of the Seeker. A few million viewers just wasn't enough. Boohoo Disney. Somebody start a boycott yet?

@VitaminEH

Plenty of people have already...but feel free to throw your tinfoil hat into the ring as well: http://www.boycottdisney.com/

Booooo!!! PURE was really great! So much fun, good tunes and very pretty. I still have it! =)

Where does it end? Why must Disney control and destroy everything we love? Its not about quality, its about whoring the wallets of unsuspecting kid's parents.

@The Nasty Nick they ended toy story as well :(

Sad face. I guess I can't complain because I did buy Split/Second at a deep discount and didn't pick up any of the DLC, but at least I didn't buy it used...so it could have been worse.

Best of luck to everyone who lost their jobs here.

Driving past Disney with a full red bar. And guess what happens next.. ^.~

Good luck every one at Black Rock Studios we will miss you and Split Second 2 to...

I hate business politics...worse part is that they've ALWAYS been bastards and I just never noticed :/ PURE and Split/Second were BRILLIANT games, and I would love to see more. Good news is that theose guys who split off to make Shortround games were the main guys behind Split/Second, so the awesome has a good chance to continue.
Btw, lol House of Mouse. The mouse is basically gone now, they ran him against the grindstone until he was just a cloud of dust in the wind. Disney seems to have a knack for destroying things these days, don't they...

Sadly, as Pure and Split/Second showed, there's just not much profit to be made in the racing genre, unless you're Forza or something. Those were both amazing games, but at the end of the day it's a business and has to be run like one. It really does stink, but I hope all of these fine folks will land on their feet. So much talent here.

@KungFuChaosNinja
Finally, someone who understands, instead of just mindlessly bashing Disney! As if they really wanted to waste their money buying Black Rock just to "control and destroy" it! I'm glad you have some common sense.

Arrrrgh! Black Rock was an absolute titan of insane, fast racing games.

Split/Second was awesome, as was PURE!!!! Shame on Disney for not letting Black Rock make a sequel to Split/Second!!! I don't understand the logic that these corporations have!!! You must BUILD a new IP and at least give it a chance to expand beyond the initial base of early adopters!!!

@SEAL PUP85
Sadly, games are just one form of media that Disney does not understand. It really is a shame, Propaganda Games and Black Rock were great studios. Like the Pirates game Propaganda was working on, I would have bought that, along with a good sequel to Turok. When they purchased Marvel, I really hoped they would bring Marvel game development in-house, but Disney just doesn't get the business, they just try to ride whatever trend is currently happening to loosen their lose, such as mobile and social gaming, through Tapulous and Playdom.

The game industry isn't made to give gamers good games. It's made to make money. Blackrock's games, while amazing, were not good sellers. It would be stupid to keep an unprofitable studio open, draining money just so that gamers could have a good time. I wish Blackrock the best of luck, and I'm sad that they're leaving, but let's get real.

@eat it
Steve Jobs? when was this, before monsters inc.?

Wow, I thought disney was in this for the long haul? That is, when it come to a game publisher with in-house developers. I guess not.

Blur was better. Just sayin

@EazySCT
I respected Black Rock and Bizarre Creations, sad to see both of them go like this.

@EazySCT your opinion is lame. just sayin'

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Split/Second" wasn't much fun to play, i.e. rubberbanding a.i. from hell. Word of mouth, the used market, competition. Whatever. Black Rock put a lot of pizzazz into a game that lacked the fundamental element of joy.

Such a shame. I thought Split/Second was brilliant. Me and a few of my friends discovered it a month or so ago while I was visiting them for a weekend. It makes for a great game to play while just hanging out and having a beer...or 5. Anytime I am in town we knock out another chapter or 2 over the course of a long night. Its a shame it didn't end up being a blockbuster. Thought it was nice how they mixed the fun and mayhem of the explosions and route changers with actually making most of the cars handle differently to change your playstyle.

This just makes me sad. I loved Split/Second, as it is second only to Burnout in my heart.

Here's to hoping The Black Rock folks land on their feet quickly.

OH GOD DAMNIT ARRRG F**** YOU V***** F******* N***** *********

Not really, but I'm really sorry to see Black Rock go. When I finished S/S, I was SURE there was going to be another game, maybe explaining more of the story. Oh well. Split/Second really was amazing.

Split/Second

Disney moves to close Split/Second developer Black Rock

Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:08AM Architecture said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:08AM eat it said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:21AM JakeAuditore said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:32AM Gooblechev said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:37AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:38AM eat it said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:50AM byaboy said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:59AM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:04AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:07AM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:30AM eat it said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:38AM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 12:09PM eat it said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 12:23PM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:21AM byaboy said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:23AM VitaminEH said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:47AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:30AM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:39AM The Nasty Nick said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:50AM byaboy said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:43AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:47AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:58AM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 10:59AM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:03AM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:00AM Once known as Shadsy said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:02AM SEAL PUP85 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:10AM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 12:11PM ShokLoc said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:42AM arucious said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:38AM Aaron W said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 11:46AM EazySCT said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 3:46PM bradphillips204 said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 4:00PM 8bitartist said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 2:32PM bioadam said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 3:21PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 3:36PM TheIcemanCometh said

Posted: Jul 1st 2011 4:16PM IAmTheBabyJeezus said

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