Layoffs always make me sad. I hope that the creative talent leaving the company finds somewhere else to input their ideas.
Hudson Soft's US arm closing
American subsidiary of Japanese publisher closing its doors after parent company is completely bought out by Konami.
Last month, Hudson Soft made headlines for being completely bought out by Konami. The Metal Gear Solid publisher had had a controlling stake in the smaller firm for nearly six years and had effectively been its parent corporation.
However, like all too many buyouts, Konami's purchase of Hudson Soft's remaining shares has been followed by layoffs at the smaller company. In this case, it is American subdivision Hudson Entertainment that is the focus of the cutbacks, as it is apparently being closed down entirely. According to a blog post by brand manager and Web producer Morgan Haro, the subsidiary is being shuttered at the end of the month. (Haro also confirmed the closure on his Twitter account.)
"It was revealed today that all of Hudson [Entertainment]'s previously planned projects have been canceled and that our office will be closing its doors at the end of February," wrote Haro. Hudson Entertainment was founded in 2003, eight years after Hudson Soft's previous US subsidiary, Hudson Soft USA, had its doors closed.
In an extended opinion piece on his personal blog, Haro blamed the closure on the increasingly competitive gaming market, saying: "While Hudson [Entertainment] has been around for years, it's clear that we didn't have the money muscle to bring on big talent, and create big experiences. In this current landscape, it's tough now to have companies that find a place somewhere right in the middle. You're either a hit, or an indie developer looking to be a hit."
Haro emphasized in his post that Hudson Soft's Japanese operations will continue unabated by Hudson Entertainment's closure. Recent releases by the company include Lost in Shadow for the Wii and Deca Sports Freedom for the Xbox 360's Kinect motion-sensing system.
30 comments
This is just the US arm closing. Their properties are owned by Konami so there can still be new Bloody Roar (if ever) and other games. The only difference is that Konami US will be deciding what gets brought over to the US now.
Damn... Wonder if my Military Madness iPod Touch guide will be gone for good, then? That was a challenging ton of work, but REALLY fun to work on with Morgan. I'll miss the US branch and hope for the best to everyone out of work there... GOOD LUCK, guys and gals!
let me rephrase this with kemco gone hudson gone and midway gone we will never see- marioparty topgear-kemcos big game or crusin/rush games whos next to fall harmonix got closed-no more rockbands by them hm what else --rare is not making good games any more so this leaves me thinking the industry is declining more
Goodbye, Hudson. I'll miss your strange logo that looks like a bumblebee with whiskers. But this isn't over! You shall live on THROUGH KONAMI'S ARM!
Nothing of much value was lost and maybe for the best for a new developer to have Bomberman license.
my super nintendo freaked out whenever i tried to play any hudson soft games as a little kid...for that i say good!!!
@MasterD3d: Your wish was granted 14 years ago -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DoReMi_Fantasy:_Milon%27s_DokiDoki_Adventure
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