Potential Smash Bros. team disbands after a single game release.
The video game industry isn’t the most stable and consistent environment to work in, given the number of successful studios being shuttered abruptly and assimilated into other locations (or worse). Don’t look now, because another studio has closed its doors for the final time, adding to the list of closures for the year. Project Sora, the studio run by Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, is no longer in the business.
The closure came unexpectedly since the original assumption was to have Project Sora work with Namco Bandai on the upcoming 3DS and Wii U Smash Bros. games. Now, all that’s left of Project Sora is a message on its website saying it will be shut off on July 31st. It appears that parent company Sora Ltd. will now be working with Namco on the Smash Bros. titles. Nintendo are yet to comment on the surprise closure and the fate of its 30 workers.
Project Sora was established in 2009 in response to the success of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The studio’s one and only title was the critically acclaimed Kid Icarus: Uprising; it earned a perfect 40/40 score from Japanese publication Famitsu, where it rubs shoulders with the likes of Bayonetta and Skyward Sword.
It’s disheartening to see the young studio turn off its lights, despite its impressive debut. Smash Bros. fans will be content to know, however, that their sequels are still in development.
Source: Kotaku
