Paladin Studios has announced that it is laying off its staff and will be shutting down due to a lack of work after nearly 19 years in the gaming industry.
The company said that they had unfortunately failed to land enough work to cover their burn-rate. The statement also noted that they hit an inflection point on May 1, 2024, for their financial security.
Paladin Studios Announces Closure
(Photo : Bandai Namco, Paladin Studios / Screenshot taken from official website)
It added that going further with the current outlook would have been an irresponsible decision that the company claimed would have most likely caused insolvency.
They said that this forced them to take the drastic step of shutting down to ensure a proper procedure where all workers are given proper severance and the studio remains debt-free.
Paladin Studios was launched in 2005 and is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and has been responsible for the release of various games. These include Amazing Katamari Damacy, My Tamagotchi Forever, and Galaga Wars, according to GamesIndustry.
The company closed while it still had 45 employees and the studio noted that it will still provide technical support for its games library despite its closure. Paladin Studios said that for almost two decades, their team has poured their hearts and souls into creating games that make players smile.
It noted how they started as a bootstrapped mini studio in 2005 and experienced various twists and turns in the gaming industry to slowly and steadily find their place. Over the years, Paladin Studios peaked at 55 employees.
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The company said that the titles it released have been played by millions of people worldwide but said that this was simply not enough, said GameDeveloper.
Paladin Studio also noted that it had the chance to work together with various partners in the industry, including Nintendo, Apple Arcade, Netflix, Zeptolab, Bandai Namco, and many others.
The company also noted that its games have earned prestigious awards and that working for the people has been a dream come true.
Katamari Damacy's Legacy
Katamari Damacy is probably Paladin Studios' most-known game and is a classic that many players have enjoyed. It was also considered to be one of, if not the weirdest games on the PlayStation 2, which had a somewhat rich library of games.
The game's premise is that the eccentric king of the universe, who is seen wearing a pair of purple tights, smashed the cosmos up after having too many beers. Players will take control of his tiny green prince who must use a sticky ball to Earth and roll it around.
You will have to collect ever-larger objects until your clump of various stuff is large enough to replace the moon and the planets that were destroyed. Katamari Damacy had a theme that was a strong contender for being the best in any video game in history.
Despite your massive task, you are only five centimeters tall and the king exclaims, "That body, that physique. Could you really be our son?"
This means that at the beginning, you will only be able to gather tiny objects such as thumbtacks and dice and eventually make your way to clumping up buildings, according to The Guardian.
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