Housemarque Cites a Lack of Financial Success
Housemarque has announced today on their site that they’re stepping away from further developing retro arcade games. The studio has long championed the retro game genre with releases like Resogun, Alienation, and Nex Machina, but will be pivoting to “something totally different” from the usual studio releases. The reason for the huge shift was the lackluster sales of Nex Machina which received glowing critical reception but struggled to make good coin for the company.
In a post titled, “Arcade is dead”, Housemarque’s CEO, Ilari Kuittinen, noted where the studio is heading: “While [the retro arcade] genre will always hold a special place in our hearts, the industry is moving more toward multiplayer experiences with strong, robust communities, and it’s time for Housemarque to move forward with the industry.” It’s not all gloom as Kuitttinen said, “Our core values remain the same – gameplay first with first class execution. We are really excited about our new projects and look forward to unveiling our first game from the new era of Housemarque.”
As a final salute to the company’s history, they released this music video from the Nex Machina soundtrack below:
It’s an end of an era and the start of a whole new one.
Source: Housemarque