Ignition Laying Off Development Staff Left and Right

Ignition, part of UTV Games, had already closed and laid off the entire Austin staff which was working on the console-based first-person shooter Reich when word came in that they are also laying off the London studio developers who were working on Project Kane/War Devil. This is the game’s second cancellation.

It seems that the company is moving completely away from development and into a publishing only role, much like Atari recently did after a string of layoffs and game cancellations.

The question remains, how many publishing-only companies are needed to publish the new games coming out? With digital distribution sites and purchasing on the rise, I see less and less need for these publishing only companies. Sure, Atari will most likely survive even though they’ve been on their deathbed several times (and publishing poor quality stuff now like Daggerdale).

It’s unfortunate that some companies see no value in actually making games but see lots of value in piggybacking on the work of others and taking a cut of their income to ’publish’ the games. Hopefully, the indie devs out there will find solutions that work best for them and help them maximize their profits so that we can continue to play great independent games, whether with or without big publisher support.