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Gamasutra sources corroborate widespread media reports that Bay Area-based Activision internal studio Shaba Games, developer of Spider Man: Web of Shadows, is to shut down after 12 years in business.

Leigh Alexander, Contributor

October 8, 2009

1 Min Read

Activision internal studio Shaba Games, developer of Spider Man: Web of Shadows is to shut down after 12 years in business. Gamasutra verified anonymous info first given to consumer weblog Kotaku indicating the Bay Area studio, which also handled Tony Hawk ports and worked on DS title Shrek Super Slam, laid off 30 staffers and closed its doors. Yesterday, the publisher also cut staff at recently-acquired 7 Studios, a move Activision told media outlets was designed to better align the studio to focus on the music genre. Multiplatform title Web of Shadows launched in October 2008 to generally weak critical reception, excluding the DS version, which, according to Metacritic was somewhat better-reviewed. It sold 630,000 units across all platforms, and 300,000 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii combined. Shaba had been at work on an unknown project. [UPDATE: Activision has released the following official statement about Shaba: "Activision continually evaluates the resources at our studio properties to ensure that they are properly matched to our product slate and overall strategic goals. As part of this process, we recently made the difficult but necessary decision to close Shaba Studios. We are grateful for the studio's contributions and wish this talented team success in their future endeavors."]

About the Author(s)

Leigh Alexander

Contributor

Leigh Alexander is Editor At Large for Gamasutra and the site's former News Director. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Slate, Paste, Kill Screen, GamePro and numerous other publications. She also blogs regularly about gaming and internet culture at her Sexy Videogameland site. [NOTE: Edited 10/02/2014, this feature-linked bio was outdated.]

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