Although Scribblenauts is a series far removed from its peak popularity, the news is still unexpected. It wasn’t that long ago that Scribblenauts featured Nintendo characters, an inclusion that Nintendo likely wouldn’t have permitted had the gaming giant thought little of the IP. The studio’s partnership with Warner Bros also yielded the unlikely mashup of the Scribblenauts games with the DC superhero universe, a game that received high praise from critics and seemed to insure the future of both Scribblenauts and 5th Cell.
Unfortunately, in what has already been a difficult March for gaming fans, another studio has been hit hard by cancellations and layoffs. Earlier this month it was announced that Fable Legends had been cancelled and its developer, Lionhead Studios, was shutting down. Despite many fans’ general apathy towards a Fable franchise that had lost a lot of its luster in recent years, it was a saddening announcement all the same, and a number of talented members of the gaming industry lost their long-time jobs as a result. While Scribblenauts may not have been quite as impactful on gaming as the Fable series was, it is another reminder that innovation alone is not enough to keep studios going.
Slaczka didn’t stop at just commiserations to 5th Cell’s departing employees, however, as the CEO is attempting to prevent his former employees from being without work for long. After making sure to establish that 5th Cell was not shutting down, Slaczka added that the studio’s focus is “100% on helping our staff make the transition to external opportunities” before inviting interested employers to email the developer directly for further information.
It’s a nice gesture from a studio that obviously didn’t want things to happen this way, and hopefully it serves as the blueprint for how other studios facing layoffs handle the situation in the future. With rumors of more developer closures swirling around Microsoft, 5th Cell’s troubles might just be the latest addition to a list of sad moments in the video game industry that is going to get even longer soon. In the mean time, gamers will be left to wonder if Scribblenauts: Fighting Words would’ve been a return to pop culture relevance for a series that has brought some quirky, innovative, and enjoyable moments to gaming.
Did you play any of the Scribblenauts series? What do you think this means for 5th Cell going forward? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Polygon
