UPDATE: 5th Cell CEO Jeremiah Slaczka has spoken to Polygon about the news, and has confirmed that the studio remains open but layoffs have taken place:
WB cancelled [Scribblenauts: Fighting Words] today so we had to lay off the staff. It happened so quick we're not sure what the plans are going forward yet.
Here's the full statement, issued after Slaczka's initial comment:
Unfortunately, due to a project cancellation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today.
Layoffs aren't something we take lightly and we'd like to thank all our employees for all the hard work and dedication over the years.
5TH Cell as a company is not closing down, but our focus right now is 100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities. If we haven't already reached out, any interested employer can reach us at [email protected].
ORIGINAL STORY: 5th Cell, the studio behind the best-selling Scribblenauts series, has closed.
The company was founded in 2003 as 5th Cell Media, LLC and its early works included Lock's Quest on and Drawn to Life on the Nintendo DS. However, the studio's most famous work has to be the aforementioned Scribblenauts franchise; four titles were produced in total, with Scribblenauts Unlimited and Scribblenauts Unmasked both appearing on the Wii U and 3DS.
The news was broken on Twitter by 5th Cell lead animator Tim Borrelli:
https://twitter.com/Anim8der/status/712052739719598080
5th Cell had been working on Anchors in the Drift, a title which was intended to be crowdfunded via the new Fig platform. It failed to reach its funding target, although the studio was adamant that work would continue with a Summer 2016 release expected.
Our thoughts are with 5th Cell's staff.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 54
That's a crying shame.
It's always sad to see a studio closed down, especially one with such talented, creative people.
that sucks!
That sucks, I remember the Scribblenaughts game on DS and thought it had loads of potential.
I hope someone else takes over the series as it'd be a shame if it were gone forever.
Nnnoooooo!!! Scribblenauts was one if the last games I pirated. I fell in love with its quirks and clunky control scheme and went out to buy a hard copy.
By the time Scribblenauts Unlimited came out, I was surprised at how much they had improved from the first game. Its a shame we won't get to see where it could have gone from here.
Edit: Spoke too soon!
The mobile Scribblenauts title was cancelled and the team laid off, but they are still operating with a small staff
So.... what now? No more repeated games 20 times across all platforms again from them? Oh.
The Twitter picture depicts the Maxwell amiibo that will never be...
But seriously, it's a darn shame the studio is closing it's doors. Scribblenauts is a great series, and 5th Cell brings so much creativity to the table.
@Desrever
I was about to say that people like you are the reason they went out of business...but I didn't notice the "so I went out and bought a hard copy" part the first time I read your post XD.
Curses be upon modern gaming trends(damn smartphones and 100 million dollar budget games with stupid amounts of advertising)
There is barely any market for medium size devs on traditional hardware anymore...
Aww no I really liked Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts from them. I'll have to keep an eye out for what the developers go onto next...
@Dankykong at least they had a genuinely innovative and unique idea to begin with and weren't afraid to create and release it in this most toxic of industries, unlike the dozens of focus tested on 12 year old boys COD clones that have polluted the market in the same time frame.
Moving on from cheap and unsubstantiated shots at other peoples' expense this is a true shame, as it always is. Studios like this, Cing, Lionhead, Maxis and others deserve better than the fate that befell them.
That's a shame.
I had loads of fun with Drawn To Life and Scribblenauts.
I own every Scribblenauts game for the ds/3ds, and Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter.
Scribblenauts was never my cup of tea, but I can see why so many enjoyed the series; it was one of the more creative and unique franchises out there.
That said, it's sad to see when a talented studio like this closes.
This sucks. I own the original the and first WiiU game. I just pullled the WiiU one out a couple of weeks ago and had my 3 year old tell me whatever he could thikn of and made it appear on screen. It was a blast.
Having never achieved anything on the ds game of scribblenauts (because the main menu was so much fun to mess around) and having fun with unlimited. It sucks that they will be gone.....
This is definitely sad to hear. I only owned the first Scribblenauts, and now that I think about it, I have no idea where it is. I don't recall trading it in and I remember really enjoying it. I probably gave it to a friend or something. I might have to pick up Scribblenauts Unlimited sometime.
5th Cell closes down, and [insert your own greedy game publishing giant here] is still alive and kicking. What even.
Oh no! What happened? I loved the Scribblenauts games! The only one I didn't buy was the DC Comics one because I don't read Superhero comics!
Oh, man! I just got Scribblenauts Unlimited for Wii U. Another great developer and series disappearing.
Oh no... I honestly love Scribblenauts and Drawn to Life... Wow... Shout out to those who played the Spongebob version of Drawn to Life! One of my favorite licensed games ever. Another shout out to those who played Drawn to Life 2. If you thought Mother 3 and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2 were the only video game who could make you cry, you better give this one a try.
Rest in peace, 5th Cell...
Thinking about it more, I'm in tears. I can't believe this... Drawn to Life was one of the very few games that influenced me to become a game developer... God, it had such an impact on me...
Clever team over there. Always unfortunate to hear this
@Everyone go to http://www.nintendoeverything.com updated article and it just laying off workers. Now that's really sad cause its right before easter.
Radon over and over
From what I hear they arent really closing just laying off people
This is a shame. I've played every Scribblenauts game and have loved them all (perhaps with the exception of unmasked as I'm not a huge DC fan). I hope the people behind the series can continue to find a way to showcase their creativity elsewhere in the future.
My son loved all of the scribblenauts games. Thank you 5th cell. Other studios should jump at this opportunity to hire your awesome team members.
It's a big layoff, not a shutdown. Still very sad to see people go.
Thats so sad. Drawn to Life was my favorite DS game in many ways. Man I might go and play both of them again...
Hey guys, better update the article. Major layoffs, which is so very brutal too...5th Cell is a great studio. I loved Scribblenauts and Super Scribblenauts didn't play to much of Unlimited, but...maybe I'll pull the 3DS version out and play through it again. Sources for updated info:
http://nintendoeverything.com/scribblenauts-developer-closing-its-doors/
http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/21/11279936/developer-5th-cell-lays-off-staff-as-scribblenauts-fighting-words
That's a shame. I was never the biggest fan, and I disagreed with many of their ideas with sequels, but I loved Drawn To Life, Scribblenauts, Super Scriblenauts, and to a lesser degree the later sequels of both of those franchises. I hope the programmers, artists and testers, (oh dear lord those have to be dedicated QA teams for those games) find good jobs.
Is the studio closing it's doors, or are the doors already closed? We need to get the door status sorted.
Cause they're some really nice doors.
Wish them all the best.
Disappointing, however Unlimited and Unmasked were mediocre compared to Super Scribblenauts
The industry really is getting dangerously close to imploding. When these small but wonderfully creative developers have no choice but to shut down, then I think we're possibly looking at a one of many huge red flags that something bad is going to happen before the industry gets better...
Such a shame. Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts were superb. I hope everyone can find jobs quickly.
5th Cell is not closing down guys.
According to Gamespot, 5th Cell is only laying off 45 of their employees. this is their following statement:
"Unfortunately, due to a project cancellation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today.
Layoffs aren't something we take lightly and we'd like to thank all our employees for all the hard work and dedication over the years.
5TH Cell as a company is not closing down, but our focus right now is 100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities. If we haven't already reached out, any interested employer can reach us at [email protected]."
i woder i they would sell the scribblenauts rights to nintendo
@Kaviam Agreed. Honestly I found Lock's Quest to be the only game of theirs I actually really resonated with. Not that I didn't have fun with Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts, but I feel those were more smartphone type games; fun to mess around with for awhile, but lacking the kind of depth, story and characterization of Lock's Quest. I would've liked to see more games like that one.
Either way, these guys were always really ambitious, and I can respect that. I'm sorry to see them fall on such hard times... here's hoping those laid off can find some great new jobs.
5th Cell created a good chunk of my childhood... just the other day on Twitter I gave one of the artists of DtL/Scribblenauts my gratitude, and now it's all just stopped.
That's a real shame but they had a very good run that I will always remember.
@Not_Soos
Hey you can still always order that figurine along with a few others on amazon. They're probably just as good as an amiibo.
Another one bites the dust.
And that´s a shame.
Oh no! I always hate to hear of an awesome studio closing down... :sigh: It costs soooo much money to make games now, smaller studios a lot of times can't hang with the larger companies (which is curious seeing as the smaller studios generally produce fresher, more unique games). Personally, I never cared for Scribblenauts and even less for the Drawn To Life series. But I LOVED Lock's Quest on the DS (which, ironically, was likely less of a seller than the aforementioned two series). I know the awesome people at 5th Cell are going to find brand-new homes elsewhere and put their stamp on other great games for us to enjoy! Can't wait and good luck to everyone!
Aaah man, that really sucks! I really Love Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts, sad that this happened.
It's not a problem anymore. There are already games. - "smart words" from N commodity.
This is awful.
I really enjoyed Drawn to Life.
Scribblenauts Unmasked never came to Europe
Play them off, Keyboard Cat.
Ugh, I sense some Warner Brothers meddling behind the scenes. It's a real shame, Locks Quest and Drawn to Life 2 were some of my favorite games on the DS. They made doodles and "Hamataro" into a bad-ass tragedy. Let's hope the team members can still produce some good content in other studios.
@Pikachupwnage
I dont think its entirely true. You cannot blame people for not buying a game. Bigger developers have suffered the same fate. I checked some vid reviews of scribblenauts and thought this game is not for me. Take shovel knight for example, I think it was quite a success. The game appealed to me to and I bought a physical copy on wii u.
And delusional idiots will keep saying the consoles industry isn't shrinking because AAA#154521 broke another record lol
That seems like Warner Bros, canceling a good game franchise and closing more studios. Scribblenauts on Wii U were two really fun games and a third one would have been a great perfect fit! Drawn to Life was another good series, that I wish would have come out on Wii U. Hopefully, someone picks up the licenses and continues the series.
DAMM! I never thought that the studio would close down like that all of a sudden! Its a really great studio!
SEGA, if you're reading this, you might prove yourself worthy if you bought 5th Cell!
Noooo! I was waiting for the next scribblenauts, guess it will never be.
Still sad to hear this. I love the Scribblenauts games, and Drawn to Life was a lot of fun too. I hope they make it through this, I'd love to see more from them.
What a shame. Hopefully the people they had to lay off will be able to find a new job.
Not close just, layoffs. Still that's upsetting.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...