Tag Archives: BottleRocket Entertainment

BottleRocket Entertainment has shut down.

Work on the Splatterhouse project was canceled after Namco Bandai dropped the developer earlier this year.

“After fighting to keep the doors open for the past six months we have decided to close and move on,” studio president Jay Beard told Kotaku.

Beard told the site that he is currently “in the process of building a new development studio from the ground up,” but did not offer any further information on the extent of his progress.

More through the link.

Namco has hired 10-20 staff members from BottleRocket to finish development of Splatterhouse.

Seems the company opened up a new studio in San Diego and pulled in artists, designers, programmers, producers, and other staff to work alongside the Afro Samurai team.

Splatterhouse was yanked from BottleRocket back in March because of “performance issues” and combined with Brash going bust and the subsequent cancellation of The Flash, the firm was in dire straits.

According to  Variety, BottleRocket is currently at work on Scratch: The Utimate DJ after a bit of a dry spell.

More through the links.

Ex-Splatterhouse developer BottleRocket has hit back at Namco claims that there was a “performance issue” regarding the creation of the horror title, saying that it never missed a milestone and that Namco’s handling of the project must therefore have been “inept”.

BottleRocket said in a statement, published by Gamasutra:

We too have to be careful of what we say since publishers have to worry about their ‘image’ and will sue small, independent studios who bark back at them too loudly.

Game development contracts are put in place to protect the publisher and their interests. Within these contracts are a series of defined game development objectives and goals called milestones. If a developer is under performing they tend to fail these milestones and have varying degrees of accountability placed upon them.

“Splatterhouse had been in development for over eighteen months and up to having the title taken away from us we had not missed any contractually defined milestones. So either there were no performance issues during that timeframe or Namco’s management of the title was inept.

Namco unceremoniously yanked Splatterhouse from BottleRocket earlier this year, giving the game to the in-house Afro Samurai team.

A few screens of what’s apparently a BottleRocket adaptation of The Flash have surfaced, showing… The Flash. See them here.

The game was apparently in development for now defunct publisher Brash.

BottleRocket wound up earlier this month when Namco pulled Splatterhouse from the firm.

Via Kotaku and superannuation.

The BottleRocket team fired by Namco for a still unknown reason has issued a statement saying it wishes the publisher “the best” and is to start work on a new game.

“Namco canceled the development of Splatterhouse on February 6, 2009,” said the note.

“BottleRocket wishes Namco the best in completing their project.”

The statement went on, saying that the “development team is looking forward to turning their attention to a new project soon to be announced.”

Thanks, Joystiq.

Following rumour of Splatterhouse developer BottleRocket going bust at the weekend, Gamasutra’s confirmed the truth of it.

“Yes, we have decided to part ways with BottleRocket Entertainment,” said a Namco rep, “but we are committed to bringing Splatterhouse to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

“At this time, we are not ready to discuss specific development details about the game, and wish BottleRocket the best of luck in their future endeavors.”

A BottleRocket staffer was less convivial.

“Last Friday, Namco showed up with a U-Haul truck, took all their assets (dev kits, etc.) and informed management that the title was being pulled from Bottlerocket,” a studio rep told the site.

Splatterhouse is believed to now have been moved to the Afro Samurai team. There’s no word as yet as to why any of this has happened.

Following rumour yesterday that Splatterhouse developer BottleRocket had gone bust, Kotaku’s fleshed the story out with talk that the horror reboot’s been moved in-house at Namco.

The game is to be completed by Namco’s Afro Samurai team, according to that piece. Less than ideal if you’re BottleRocket, obviously.

Splatterhouse made an appearance at Comic Con this weekend, making the news even tougher for the Californian developer.

The move essentially means it’s curtains for BottleRocket. Staff are apparently in the process of being paid up.

There’s no news yet on quite why any of this has happened. More next week, probably.

Splatterhouse developer BottleRocket Entertainment has gone bust, says an apparently solid rumour.

The company is showing off its horror reboot at New York Comic Con this weekend.

BottleRocket – based in Carlsbad, Calfornia – was formed in 2002 of the core team that created Mark of Kri and its sequel at Sony’s San Diego studio.

Details are non-existent at the moment, but we should have some more for you soon.

Good shit, yo. Speaking at Comic Con yesterday Splatterhouse co-producer Mark Brown confirmed that the original game’s to be included in the upcoming re-boot.

“Everybody wants that,” he said. “In one form, we’re gonna deliver on it.”

Brown called the original, the “crown jewel of the [Namco] back catalog,” at the event, and said the original may be included as a “premium edition” bonus.

Splatterhouse ships later this year for 360 and PS3. Thanks, Joystiq.

Bottle Rocket’s put out a new trailer for the Splatterhouse reboot, and it looks stupid in all the right ways.

The world needs more monster metal horror in videogames, which is just as well.

No date. PS3, 360. After the break.

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The June issue of EGM’s got a cover exclusive on a new Splatterhouse game, if you can believe that. See here. There are no details on that page apart from the fact it’s being published by Namco.

Surfer Girl reckons BottleRocket Entertainment (Rise of the Kasai) is developing the title.

There’s loads of other stuff in the mag. Why doesn’t someone publish something like EGM in the UK? We might actually buy it if they did.