We reported last week that Zipper Interactive, the creators of titles such as MAG and the revolutionary SOCOM series, was on thin ice. Well, TheVerge is reporting that things are direr than we thought possible – They report that the Sony-owned, first-party development studio “will be shut down as early as Monday.”
If you take a moment and look at the history of Zipper Interactive, you’ll find that their roots do indeed go extremely deep with the Japanese-based technology giant. The studio itself was created in 1995 by game developers Jim Bosler and Brian Soderberg. They were then bought nearly a decade later by Sony in 2006, who then brought the team onto its all-star team of development studios.
Sony’s track record of keeping these studios running is a pretty solid one, so when these rumors started cropping up last week concerning the studio’s imminent closure, it was like the industry had taken a heavy punch to the stomach.
While Zipper’s shutdown isn’t official yet, everything is pointing to this rumor being true. Check back here at Gameranx for any further updates.