Supermassive Games still working on Until Dawn, no more Doctor Who games

While Supermassive Games is still actively in development on survival horror game Until Dawn, one thing is for certain: the Guildford-based studio won't be making any more Doctor Who games.

BBC confirmed with Polygon that the two remaining Doctor Who games slated for development under Supermassive have been canceled.

Supermassive Games released Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock for PlayStation 3 and Vita in May 2012 and for Windows PC last fall, an adventure game based on popular British sci-fi television property Doctor Who. The title was developed as part of the studio's partnership with the BBC, the broadcasting company that owns the rights to the Doctor.

The Eternity Clock was initially announced as the first in a trilogy of planned console games that would follow the Doctor and one of his touch-and-go companions, River Song, on a race through the universe to prevent its destruction — the framework used for many of the series' TV episodes. But The Eternity Clock's reception was lukewarm to cold, with many reviewers stating the game was plagued with game-breaking bugs and poorly realized mechanics. Others criticized the game for not adequately capturing the feel and tone of the television series.

Paul Joffe, vice president of digital entertainment and games at the BBC, said that no further Eternity Clock games went into development, nor would they. Joffe did not comment on what studios the BBC may be partnering with on future Doctor Who video games, not did he offer comment on Eternity Clock's poor reception. He added that while the relationship between BBC and Supermassive "was and continues to be good," the company has no more projects in the pipeline with Supermassive. The last of these partnership projects to launch will be Wonderbook: Walking with Dinosaurs, which will be released Nov. 12.

"We will not be releasing any further Eternity Clock games, nor did any other go into production," Joffe said. "We also have no current work with Supermassive. We do have Doctor Who games in the pipeline and we will be announcing these in due course."

Managing director at Supermassive Games Pete Samuels corroborated on this statement, adding that he did not know anything about future Doctor Who games.

"I can't comment on further episodes of The Eternity Clock, I'm afraid, other than to say that we have no plans to develop," he said.

Joffe added that BBC is focusing on mobile games moving forward, with a few exceptions including the company's work with Microsoft to include certain U.K. racetracks in Forza.

"We're determined to focus on mobile, console didn't fit into the long term strategic vision in cases where BBC Worldwide would publish," Joffe said. "We do continue to work with licensees closely on console such as our partnership with Microsoft on Forza."

Supermassive Games' other in-development game, a horror game using the old slasher flick trope of amorous teenagers isolated in the woods, is still missing in action. The studio and publisher Sony have been mum on Until Dawn, which was announced at Gamescom 2012 as a PS3 title with PlayStation Move motion controls.

"Until Dawn is very much still in development, going really well, and without any deliberations of possible cancelation that I'm aware of," Samuels said. "We're very pleased with the way it's going. I'm sure that there will be more news soon, but I couldn't say exactly when."

Samuels did not comment on the possibility of Until Dawn being moved to PlayStation 4, or whether — similar to Crytek's Ryse: Son of Rome — the mandatory motion controls were being removed from the equation.

Sony did not respond when reached for comment on the status of Until Dawn.