After months and months of Kid Icarus and Factor 5 speculation, we finally have some concrete info on the company’s situation after the Brash Entertainment fiasco. Unfortunately, it’s not very good news.
Factor 5’s USA division (Factor 5 Inc.) has officially closed its doors.Needless to say, this is extremely unfortunate, considering Factor 5 made some of the best games we all played on Nintendo systems. We wish the company’s former employees and their families the very best of luck and hope they manage to land on their feet.
However, there is some solace to be gained in the fact that the company’s main division in Cologne, Germany (Factor 5 GmbH) is still in business and will continue to make games.
A couple weeks ago we reported that there might be hope for Factor 5’s long-rumoured Wii game despite the difficulties the developer was facing after Brash Entertainment pulled its funding and contracts for their Superman game. While there’s still no official news on the game(s?), there is this message on the Factor 5 website, which now points to www.factor5.de:
We are sorry to announce the closure of the San Rafael-based Factor 5, Inc. studio, but the obstacles created by the sudden bankruptcy of Brash Entertainment for the continuation of operations have turned out too great to overcome in the current economic climate.
Factor 5 GmbH, which has been creating games since 1988 with its headquarter in Cologne, Germany, is entirely unrelated to Factor 5, Inc. and the circumstances surrounding Factor 5 Inc.’s recent challenges. Although we are saddened by Factor 5 Inc.’s situation, our corporation will remain unaffected by these developments and has partnered with both old and new friends in the industry who will reveal our upcoming projects over the next months.
We would like to thank everybody on the publishing and development side who have supported us throughout the last 20 years and continue to do so. The current transition of the games industry is challenging, but as with transitions prior there is more opportunity than ever for independent development out there.
Achim Moller, CEO Factor 5 GmbH
Let’s look at one line closely “…has partnered with both old and new friends in the industry who will reveal our upcoming projects over the next months.” Nintendo counts as an old friend…right?
Published: May 14, 2009 08:16 am