Australian indie studio Samurai Punk has announced that it is to shut down after ten years of operation.
In an announcement post on the official Samurai Punk website, directors Winston Tang and Nicholas McDonnell express “deep gratitude” to fans who’ve been with them for ten “wild” years.
The two don’t give a specific reason for the studio’s dissolution, but they do say that they’ve “grown a lot as developers” since Samurai Punk’s inception.
This “introspection”, according to Winston and Nick, led them to the conclusion that it’s “time for us to part ways and embark on new adventures”.
While no new Samurai Punk games will be developed, the studio will be entering a “support mode” to ensure that its existing games remain operational, so if you’re a big fan of a Samurai Punk game, it shouldn’t disappear.
In addition, the two directors implore any other studios reading their post to consider hiring Samurai Punk’s employees, who the two describe as “incredible”.
Samurai Punk began in 2014, according to Winston and Nick, as an answer to a job shortage; the directors say the only route forward amongst this work drought was to “found a company or move overseas”.
Obviously, the two chose the former, and Samurai Punk went on to create games like Screencheat, Justice Sucks: Tactical Vacuum Action, and its latest project Killbug, a fast-paced FPS reminiscent of games like Devil Daggers.
The Australian indie studio’s dissolution comes at the same time as a wave of industry layoffs and studio closures.
In recent months, studios like Saints Row developer Volition, Shadow Gambit studio Mimimi, and co-development outfit Puny Human have all closed their doors.
In addition, developers such as Cryptic Studios, Bungie, Media Molecule, and Frontier Developments, among several others, have been hit with layoffs.
Stay tuned for more on the state of the gaming industry as and when we get it.
