The hits keep coming for beleaguered developer Square-Enix Montreal, now Onoma. First, the rebranding of just a couple of weeks ago, then a sudden studio closure mere weeks later, and now, all of their games are being switched off in just a matter of weeks. The team, responsible for mobile favourites such as Deus Ex Go, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, Arena Battle Champions, and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes, will be flicking the switch on all of their games from December 1, 2022 on both the Apple App Store, and Google Play Store. From this date, sales will no longer be possible, while just a month later, on January 4, 2023, the games will cease to be playable. In-game purchases have now been disabled.
In a notice to fans via social media platforms, including Twitter, Onoma broke the news, saying
Arena Battle Champion, Deus Ex GO, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes will be shutting down on January 4th.
The games will be removed from the App Store/Google Play Store on December 1st, and current players will not be able to access the games past January 4th.
Effectively immediately, in-game purchases are stopped. We encourage prior in-game purchases to be used before January 4th, as they will not be refunded.
On behalf of the development team, we would like to thank you for playing our games.
With the studio shutting down and its games going offline, the future of the staff at the studio is what is in question. Initial comments from new owner, the Embracer Group, would suggest that developers are largely being shifted from Onoma, to fellow Montreal studio, Eidos Montreal, to assist in the development of what is reportedly (according to Bloomberg) a new Deus Ex title that is “very, very early” in development, as well as joining Microsoft studio Playground Games in the development of the new, and already announced, entry in the beloved, and sorely missed, Fable franchise.
Onoma reportedly had 200 staff with some of the staff being offered roles at Eidos Montreal. Others sadly seem likely to be at least temporarily out of a job, though, on behalf of Gameranx, we extend our very best of luck to each and every one of those developers hunting a new job, and hopefully the Montreal hotbed of game development can help you land a new job as soon as possible. There has been no word of what Onoma was working on prior to their closure.
