Officials from Scottish developer VIS Entertainment have announced that the company has gone into administration, with the Dundee office closing with immediate effect. The Edinburgh studio is technically still open, but all work there has been suspended.
Of the developer’s 96 staff, all 26 at the Dundee office have been made redundant along with 28 at the Edinburgh site – with the remaining sent home.
VIS, previously best known for games such as
State Of Emergency and
Earthworm Jim 3D, and most recently created the budget-priced
NARC re-make for Midway, was acquired by American publisher BAM Entertainment last May, and as such, the health of BAM and the reasons for VIS’s closure have not been made clear.
The fate of VIS’s almost completed titles, such as
State of Emergency 2 and
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer, are also unknown, although the former at least should easily find an alternative publisher.
Tom Maclennan and Kenny Craig of Tenon Recovery have been appointed as joint administrators for VIS, with Maclennan commenting: “We are carrying out a full assessment of the business and looking to reach agreements that will enable us to complete the work on the games under development. I am also in discussion with a number of parties interested in the business.”
