If this rumor is true about Zipper, it is a sad day in the history of Urgent Fury

[shane]

[h=1]Rumor: SOCOM Creators Being Shut Down by Sony[/h]Zipper Interactive, a first-party Sony studio responsible for the creation of the SOCOMseries and PS3 shooter MAG, is in the process of being shut down, according to Kotakusources.

Sony has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter to Kotaku this week, citing their policy not to discuss rumor or speculation.

 

 

But we've heard chatter for several days that Zipper was in the process of being hit with layoffs and a project cancellation. The scope of the layoffs appears to indicate a studio shutdown.

 

 

Zipper has been in the business since 1996, with fan favourites like Mechwarrior 3 andCrimson Skies to its name before it was bought by Sony in 2006 to focus on the console business. The studio's last game was third-person shooter Unit 13 for the PlayStation Vita.

 

 

Once seen as one of Sony's most important studios, especially in the days of the PS2, Zipper has seen its titles struggle to find the same level of success in the PS3 era, with MAG never really catching on with players and the latest SOCOM title having the misfortune of being released right in the middle of 2011's great PS3 downtime.

 

 

Without official confirmation, there is still the possibility that Zipper will remain open in a nominal fashion but the extent of layoffs that we're hearing about appears to indicate studio closure.

 

 

We've again reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

[bloodbath09]

Looks like we will have to look to a different studio for the revival of the SOCOM series (or something like it).

 

It also makes you wonder wether sony had a big hand in pressuring Zipper to make socom appeal to the CoD crowd, hence ruining the game and killing off the socom franchise.

[Red0ctobeR]

Serves them right for disenfranchising an entire customer base.

[WHITESABBATH]

Thanks for the 411 shane..We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'll be checking back for any additional 411.

Ps... hope you had a nice B-Day

[chiamira]

I'm glad there shutting them down. Both s4 ànd Mag were terrible! And I agree serves them right for destroying Socom! Lol

 

sent from my Rooted DX2 w/ Eclipse ROM using tapatalk

[FacelessButcher]

PS4?!?

[IRISH BULL]

Confirmed.

 

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1221535p1.html

 

RIP. But you brought this on yourselves.

[shane]

our 7900th tweet was a farewell to Zipper, and I still blame the uppers at Sony for a lot of what happened... but we will leave it at that.

[F_E_A_R_L_E_S_S1]

Sorry I posted this in a new thread and didn't see this post. It is a sad day indeed. I hope that some developer out there picks up the pieces and continues the legacy of SOCOM.

[shane]

Sorry I posted this in a new thread and didn't see this post. It is a sad day indeed. I hope that some developer out there picks up the pieces and continues the legacy of SOCOM.

 

It's all good fear this is big news as we all came to Urgent Fury because of the Original Zipper, so to finally see it go no matter how we feel about the latest Socom, it's still a sad say.

[bloodbath09]

We all loved zipper. They were the ones that started it all. It's too bad they had to go out like this.

[o-BacklasH-o]

We all loved the Zipper of old. This new regime at Zipper was never going to give us a Socom we longed for. Maybe one day Sony will bring on a dev group that can deliver what the fans really want and have been craving for over 6 years.

[DevilHawk34]

MS is looking to buy socom from Sony. Saw the post on ign

 

Planning world domination from the Raven's Nest

[Neoblackhound]

MS is looking to buy socom from Sony. Saw the post on ign

 

Planning world domination from the Raven's Nest

 

Highly doubtful rumor.

They announced it on FB too.

 

 

...In the world where I once existed.

[DevilHawk34]

Zipper doesn't own socom

 

Planning world domination from the Raven's Nest

[o-BacklasH-o]

Zipper doesn't own socom

 

Planning world domination from the Raven's Nest

 

Sony owns the rights to Socom, as such they would never sell out to Microsoft. That just never happens. Sony will never sell the rights of a game they own to a rival company...that'd be terrible business. That rumor on IGN, which I just read, was posted by some nobody on a message board claiming his "wife's cousin works for Microsoft."

 

In bizarro world, if that were to happen, I would probably be purchasing an Xbox again only to play Socom. If there's any validity to this rumor, which I highly doubt, then this could be a good thing for us. Not because Socom will be resurfacing on the XBox, because that will not happen. It could be a good thing, because if it intrigued Microsoft enough to ask, then perhaps Sony will realize they still have a highly profitable resource lying dormant.

Edited April 1, 2012 by o-BacklasH-o