Summary
- PlayStation has recently released a string of remasters and remakes that most would agree are unnecessary.
- Perhaps the biggest example of this is last year’s Until Dawn re-release, which was developed by Ballistic Moon.
- Ballistic Moon is reportedly “effectively closed” after its most recent round of layoffs.
Ballistic Moon, the developer behind the recent PS5 remake of Until Dawn, has reportedly “effectively closed” after a recent round of layoffs.
Over the past few years, PlayStation has been heavily criticised for remaking and remastering first-party games that most would agree simply didn’t need to be graphically improved in the first place. The Last of Us, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Days Gone all jump to mind as examples of unnecessary remasters, but perhaps the most confusing of them all was last year’s Until Dawn re-release.
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Although the original PS4 version of Until Dawn is nearly a decade old, most fans would agree that it still looks good to this day and didn’t really need any major improvements or tweaks. That made it quite a surprise when PlayStation announced a remaster was being made by developer Ballistic Moon, a studio based in the UK that was only recently founded in 2019.
Until Dawn Remake Studio Is Reportedly “Effectively Closed”
Even though Until Dawn’s remake caused a lot of raised eyebrows when it was first announced, it released to generally positive reviews and even generated some decent buzz thanks to its sequel-teasing new content. Despite this surprising success, it’s being reported that Ballistic Moon has been “effectively closed” following a recent round of layoffs.
As reported by Insider Gaming, Ballistic Moon was hit with layoffs in September of last year, with around 40 employees being let go from the studio. The developers remaining at the studio were originally kept on to offer “post-launch support and development” on the Until Dawn remaster following its launch in October.
That didn’t last long, though, as Insider Gaming reports that another round of layoffs took place in December that resulted in around 20 more Ballistic Moon staff losing their jobs. According to the site’s sources, only the founders of Ballistic Moon and a “handful” of employees remain at the studio, with no one in PR, marketing, or even development left.
People are sharing bugs they’ve found in the game to make the team aware but there is no one working on patch support for the game anymore. The studio has effectively closed now.
The owners of the studio are reportedly trying to keep things “moving forward” for Ballistic Moon, but the future of the studio isn’t looking bright due to a failure to acquire projects and funding.
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