Disney subsidiary Fogbank Entertainment is reportedly closing down.
We reported last week that mobile company Scopely had acquired FoxNext Games Los Angeles – which owned Fogbank Entertainment – from The Walt Disney Company for an unspecified sum. As VentureBeat now reports, Fogbank Entertainment was seemingly not part of the deal, and now the company is shuttering its San Francisco office, impacting 60 staff.
Originally Kabam, Fogbank Entertainment became an independent studio in February 2017, but was later acquired by FoxNet. In 2018 it was rebranded as Fogbank, and has sat in the Disney-owned FoxNet right up until the latter was acquired by Scopley last week.
While “some severance is being provided”, there are “no plans to relocate people to the Scopely acquired FoxNext Games operation in Los Angeles”.
The closure also impacts players of interactive story mobile game Storyscape, which announced on its social media feeds that it will “permanently shut down” next week. “To our longtime fans, we regret to inform you that Storyscape will permanently shut down on February 3, 2020. Beginning today (January 25, 2020), you will no longer be able to make in-game purchases,” the message said.
“The entire team at Fogbank Entertainment would like to thank you for your passion for our game. We hope that you’ve enjoyed Storyscape and thank you for making our time with you so fantastic.”
To our longtime fans, we regret to inform you that Storyscape will permanently shut down on February 3, 2020. Beginning today (January 25, 2020), you will no longer be able to make in-game purchases.
— Storyscape (@Storyscape_Game) January 25, 2020
Last week, Scopley said the FoxNet acquisition will add “another top-grossing game to Scopely’s live service portfolio, expand its in-development pipeline, and bring a highly experienced team to Scopely’s business” and expand its global operations, which currently include offices in Los Angeles, Barcelona, Boulder, Dublin (DIGIT Games Studios), London, and Tokyo.
These latest layoffs sadly come on the back of several other closures and cutbacks we’ve seen across studios in recent months, most recently Playful Studios, Perfect World, Fantasy Flight Interactive, Gameloft, Amazon Game Studios and PayDay developer, Starbreeze.
Other recent layoffs and closures include Iron Tiger Studios, ArenaNet, Next Games, Forgotten Key, Define Human Studios, Bandai Namco Vancouver, and Trion Worlds. Telltale Games also laid off the majority of its staff in a studio closure back in September 2018.
