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Forums - Sony Discussion - Sony just might close their Zipper.

http://kotaku.com/5894692/rumor-socom-creators-being-shut-down-by-sony

 

Zipper Interactive, a first-party Sony studio responsible for the creation of the SOCOMseries and PS3 shooter MAG, is in the process of being shut down, according to Kotakusources.

Sony has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter to Kotaku this week, citing their policy not to discuss rumor or speculation.

But we've heard chatter for several days that Zipper was in the process of being hit with layoffs and a project cancellation. The scope of the layoffs appears to indicate a studio shutdown.

Zipper has been in the business since 1996, with fan favourites like Mechwarrior 3 and Crimson Skies to its name before it was bought by Sony in 2006 to focus on the console business. The studio's last game was third-person shooter Unit 13 for the PlayStation Vita.

Once seen as one of Sony's most important studios, especially in the days of the PS2, Zipper has seen its titles struggle to find the same level of success in the PS3 era, with MAG never really catching on with players and the latest SOCOM title having the misfortune of being released right in the middle of 2011's great PS3 downtime.

Without official confirmation, there is still the possibility that Zipper will remain open in a nominal fashion but the extent of layoffs that we're hearing about appears to indicate studio closure.

We've again reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.



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Damn. Unit 13 was really good.

Still, probably time for Sony to start shedding some of their underperforming studios (read: all but Naughty Dog).



badgenome said:
Damn. Unit 13 was really good.


They've been hit pretty hard with layoffs. 



Yeah there was a funny smell coming from that part...



 

Face the future.. Gamecenter ID: nikkom_nl (oh no he didn't!!) 

Sad to see a studio close down =/



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They still have others great studios, zipper quality tittles have come down big way since Socom 2.



This kinda thing is never good news, but they certainly aren't what they used to be, so it wouldn't exactly be catastrophic if Zipper closed from a gamer's perspective, I feel sorry for the employees though.



Bristow9091 said:
Oh dear... who will develop the SOCOM games from now on then? :(

They'll probably wait until another developer comes and wants to make a new SOCOM game, like they did with Sly Cooper. 



That would be a good idea, you can't have your dick sticking out.



Former something....

While this is sad news, it is not surprising. SOCOM has been limping for a while and MAG wasn't a massive hit.



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