Tsumea, a website dedicated to game developers based in Australia and New Zealand, has reported that it has credible information indicating that Krome Studios is on the verge of collapse. According to the report, the staff of both development teams operated by Krome have been informed that they will be made redundant on Monday the 18th of October. A portion of the staff will immediately be rehired as contractors to finalize the projects that are currently in development at the Melbourne and Brisbane studios.
Last August, Krome already closed one of its studios in Adelaide and made portions of their staff in the remaining studios redundant. At that time, approximately one hundred employees were let go. The closure of Krome Studios will mean that an additional 250 employees lose their jobs, though it is currently unclear how many of those will be rehired on a contract-basis to complete current projects.
Krome Studios was responsible for the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, Hellboy: The Science of Evil, as well as ports of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Most recently, the studio developed the Game Room for Xbox Live Arcade and Games for Windows Live, as well as the movie tie-in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.
Sucks as always to see a closure. The Star Wars: The Force Unleashed port didn’t do them any favors though.