September 14, 2011 by Paul Curtin
Well this comes as no surprise. After releasing one of the biggest disappointments this year, the studio behind the development of Bodycount is being shut down by Codemasters.
Bodycount was developed by the same people behind the previous console generation hit Black and failed to live up to its hype once most gamers got their hands on its poorly made demo. The overall production of the game seemed very rushed and the final product resulted in a mediocre shooter with very strange controls that most gamers weren’t willing to give a chance. Here’s an official statement from Codemasters explaining the shutdown of Guildford Studio and their focus on racing games via CVG:
Codemasters’ future product development strategy will see additional studio resource invested to extend its world-class racing portfolio. The company is increasing the size of existing development teams at its on-campus studios in Warwickshire (DiRT, GRID, F1 Online, Central Technology/EGO) while forming a further team to work alongside the F1 2011 team at its Birmingham studio on a new racing title.
In line with the strategy, the company is proposing to retire from its facility in Guildford, most recently responsible for the shooter Bodycount. If progressed, the move will affect 66 Guildford studio personnel; staff are now involved in a consultation period to discuss the proposal.
“As Codemasters looks to take greater leadership in the racing category, the company is proposing a studio structure that adds resource and strengthens our best-in-class racing teams,” said a Codemasters spokesperson.
“The output from the studios on the Warwickshire campus and in Birmingham is on the increase with multiple continuing game series, brand extensions and new racing IPs in production. Both the Warwickshire and Birmingham studios have won BAFTAs for their critically acclaimed, multi-million selling titles and the company is adding resource to ensure they constantly over achieve in this competitive sector.”
Codemasters envisages that it will continue to have a number of open positions within the Racing and Online studio teams at Codemasters’ campus in Warwickshire working on DiRT, GRID, F1 Online and with the F1 team in Birmingham, which is being expanded to house a full second team working on a new racing IP. In the event that staff working within the Guildford site are affected by the current proposals, they will be encouraged to apply for suitable positions on campus and in the Birmingham studio.
