Capcom Vancouver, studio behind Dead Rising, has shut down

Capcom Vancouver, the developer best known for the Dead Rising franchise, has closed its doors. An announcement on Twitter last night confirmed that after more than a decade, the studio is no longer active.

“We’re sad to announce that effective today, Capcom Vancouver has suspended operations,” a tweet from the official Capcom Vancouver account reads. “We want to express our deepest thanks to our team and our fans for all your support.”

GamesIndustry.biz received a statement from Capcom itself that all of the in-progress projects at Vancouver have been canceled as part of the closure. All staff, 158 people total, have been laid off as well.

The shutdown will result in a $40 million loss for Capcom, according to a note to investors.

Capcom will instead re-double its efforts toward developing games in Japan, where the company’s teams have had major success over the last year — especially thanks to a little game called Monster Hunter: World, which has set huge sales records for the company.

Over the years, Capcom Vancouver struggled to maintain its footing. The most recent game developed by the studio was Puzzle Fighter for mobile, which was no monster hit; the free-to-play title shut down mere months after it hit app stores. Prior to that, it launched Dead Rising 4 in 2016 to lukewarm reviews. What this all means for Dead Rising is one of the biggest remaining questions — a sequel was reportedly in the works. But for now, it sounds like the zombie franchise may have been put to rest alongside the studio.