Capcom Vancouver Studio, Behind Dead Rising Sequels, Has Been Shut Down

Capcom is closing its Vancouver, Canada studio that was responsible for open-world survival horror Dead Rising series (starting with its 2010 sequel), which has led to the loss of 158 jobs. The Japanese video game publisher had announced earlier on Tuesday that it had cancelled multiple projects that would result in a loss of JPY 4.5 billion (about Rs. 290 crore or $40 million).

GamesIndustry.Biz first reported on the latter development on Tuesday, following which a Capcom spokesperson confirmed that its Vancouver studio would be shutting down. While 158 employees have been let go, a “skeleton crew” is staying behind until January to “handle the logistics of the closing the studio”. In a statement, Capcom said:

"Capcom is currently reviewing the allocation of its development resources that support the production of world-class content. Capcom has been focused on increasing the efficiency and growth of its game development operations. To support this objective, new R&D facilities and annual hiring have been underway at the Osaka headquarters. In consideration of this process, as a result of reviewing titles in development at Capcom Vancouver, Capcom has decided to cancel the development projects at this studio and will concentrate development of major titles in Japan.”

“As part of this overall direction, the CV studio will suspend operations, effective today, so the current staff will be laid off and the office will be closed. We appreciate the hard work and contributions of all the studio team members in creating unforgettable gameplay experiences for the Dead Rising series and Puzzle Fighter.”

We're sad to announce that effective today, Capcom Vancouver has suspended operations. We want to express our deepest thanks to our team and our fans for all your support.

Founded in 2005 as Blue Castle Games, the studio developed baseball games such as The Bigs and MLB Front Office Manager before moving onto Dead Rising which had been created by Capcom in Japan. The studio was acquired in 2010 and became Capcom Vancouver, and would put out two more sequels in the Dead Rising series, before developing a free-to-play competitive puzzle game in Puzzle Fighter last year. Capcom cancelled several projects back in February and let go 50 employees, but that restructuring doesn’t seem to have panned out.

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