Motiga is dead. The studio behind the online shooter Gigantic is being shut down. A few developers will continue to maintain Gigantic.
It apparently was not meant to be. As the CEO of Motiga, Chris Chung, confirmed in a statement to Destructoid, his studio Motiga is closed.
Gigantic does not generate enough revenue – Studio to be closed
Chung says: Perfect World acquired the studio in 2016. Now a decision has been made at the highest level to close the studio. Perfect World is a publicly traded company and has to pay attention to profits. Therefore, there was a decision at Perfect World to cut parts of the company that are not profitable. Gigantic is not generating enough revenue, and that’s why the studio Motiga will be closed.
Gigantic will remain in the hands of a maintenance team, in the hands of some very dedicated members of Motiga. They will continue to work on Gigantic as long as it makes sense.
Chung later apologized a bit for this statement. He says the statement came from an emotional moment, in response to a friendly and concerned inquiry. Chung may not have known all the facts. It was a hard day. Chung thanks everyone for the journey.
Currently, there is no statement from Perfect World.
Update 19:20: In the meantime, there is a statement from Perfect World. Officially, Motiga has not yet closed – but there is a “reduction in staff.” This aligns with the statement from the team – only that the studio is “officially” still alive and a core team continues to work on Gigantic. Additionally, Perfect World has closed the Seattle office of “Runic Games”, the studio behind Torchlight.
Continuing with the original article:
On Twitter, there are some comments about the closure. People mourn the passing of Motiga and try to help the dismissed employees find new jobs and make connections. This can often be observed in the gaming industry after the closure of a studio.
Tales Without a Happy Ending
Gigantic has been under a bad sign from the beginning. There were difficulties in development, a shift in platforms, and delays as a result. The studio ran out of money during the development phase.
Moreover, it became clear over the years that Blizzard’s Overwatch would dominate the hero shooter genre. Apart from Overwatch and Paladins, there was little room for other competitors. This was also evident for other promising games like Battleborn and LawBreakers.
In fact, the studio was once dead and all employees had been laid off – but they continued to work without pay because they believed so much in Gigantic.
Perfect World then appeared as the knight in shining armor, bought the company, and ensured that Gigantic was released.
However, success was absent there, and thus ends the tale of the studio that believed in the common vision against all odds, without a happy ending.
