A few weeks back Eurocom - the developer behind Goldeneye 007 on Wii - announced a large number of redundancies, cutting 200 staff down to 50 in an attempt to restructure the company.
However it has been revealed that the measures were unsuccessful and the studio will be closing its doors for good, with the remaining staff being made redundant as well.
The following statement was issued by Eurocom:
As a result of pressure from HMRC, the directors of Eurocom filed a Notice of Intention to Appoint an Administrator at Court in order to allow time for attempts to save the Eurocom business. The Administrator and the company's directors have been negotiating with customers surrounding new contracts to develop console games, however these contracts could not be secured in time and due to insufficient funds to pay outstanding wages, Eurocom today entered Administration.
As a result, the remaining 42 employees have been made redundant today and the business has ceased to trade after some 25 years, having grown organically to become one of the largest and most prolific independent console games developers worldwide.
The Directors of Eurocom would like to offer their heartfelt thanks to all their staff that have been made redundant at this difficult time, and show their appreciation of all of their hard work in consistently delivering exceptional games.
The UK developer's final game was 007 Legends which is still yet to be released on Wii U. Its release date was set for 7th December in the UK but the game has yet to be seen in stores - Amazon UK have it listed as "Not Yet Released".
There's a slim chance that the UK launch has been completely scrapped for Wii U, something that has happened in Australia. We've contacted Activision and will keep you informed. The North American version is scheduled for release on the 11th (tomorrow).
This is a sad end to a developer that could have made many more great titles. We wish all the staff who have been made redundant all the best in the future.
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[source eurogamer.net, via pushsquare.com]
Comments 25
I own Goldeneye for the Wii. It's good and all, but it's just a reskin of COD, so I won't go as far as to say they made quality work. The industry needs to downsize, as sales fall across the board. The casual gamer is on mobile. That's fine, just companies need to stop making games with $10 mil budgets and expect a return. And stop making shovelware, please.
And their Swansong is garbage. Apparently.
That's a damn shame. They were talented developers.
sad day
I quite enjoyed "Goldeneye" on the Wii, truly it had a very interesting single player campaign, but I will remember Eurocom fondly for other title: "Duke Nukem: Zero Hour". Hours and hours of N64 multiplayer fun.
How unfortunate.
This is a shame. Goldeneye 007 was great. Too bad about 007 Legends.
Tis a sad day,for both the gaming industry,and for the people who have been made redundant just before Christmas,hopefully they'll find a job.
GoldenEye 007 N64 was the best 1st person shooter there ever was, or will be...
I never thought i would live to see the end of home gaming as we know it. I pray nintendo can weather the storm and make it through this mobile abyss.
As a fan of the original N64 Goldeneye - I thoroughly enjoyed this "reimagining" of the GoldenEye story on Wii. I've never played a CoD game but apparently it plays a lot like it. I guess I would like CoD cuz I really liked GE007.
Part of what made the original Goldeneye fun is that you could be shot two dozen times grab some body armor and still win. Sometimes the good part of video games is that they don't have to be realistic.
Why do they have a picture from a bond game from a different delveloper than eurocom. Bizzare Creations made Blood Stone, the game where the picture NlLife used if from.
News is late, picture is wrong, games were crappy, company culture was awry, according to many.
Wow thats sad to hear especially around this time of the year.
I really liked Goldeneye 007 Wii. It's a sad day whenever a developer with demonstrated talent goes under.
Yeah, what terrible timing. Surely they could have at least let them MAKE a mobile game... Well here's hoping they get together and go indie, those guys are talented and can do great things with enough time and money. I'd help kickstart the heck out of anything they tried to do.
Thats what you get for taking pierce brosnan out.
@XCWarrior ehh, you cant call a game that was a remake of a game 3 or 4 generation ago a re-skin since it came out long before the COD series!
@Assassin87 that would be true if the remake was anything like the original, but its not. It is more lika a CoD game.
@Assassin87 The problem is it's less of a remake and more of a "re-imagining."
Well, darn. It's always sad to see an indie go.
I bloody knew this was going to happen.
I hate Activision.
@Kage_88 im not surprise at all.
I'm sad to hear this. Goldeneye 007 was excellent (can't talk for 007 Legends yet...I'll judge it myself rather than rely on other people to tell me what games I should enjoy, and I like the look of it), and their N64 games were also amongst my favourites....many hours spent on both Duke Nukem 64 and Duke Nukem Zero Hour, along with Cruisn' World which was a massively enjoyable improvement over the awful Cruisn' USA....and the N64 version of 007 The World Is Not Enough which IMHO was very nearly an N64 Goldeneye beater and was certainly more than a match for it in the single player campaign. Hope those who are being made redundant will find employment soon and work on other games I may pick up in the future. And anybody who criticises them really shouldn't judge them on the strength of one game.
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