PocketGamer reviews developer Kukouri Cell Leisure is leaving sport improvement.
In a press release, CEO Petri Piipari revealed the studio has step by step moved away from sport improvement “for a number of years now.” It is already bought its two sport IPs, Pixel Worlds and Tiny Troopers, to Social First. The studio itself nonetheless exists, however will pivot to a different business.
Piipari revealed its struggles with the 2, now delisted properties: Pixel Worlds has didn’t be “commercially viable” in current months, and Troopers is licensed to a separate developer and writer. As such, Kukouri made the “tough choice to shut down all sport operations.”
At time of writing, no layoffs have been reported, and Kukouri’s subsequent strikes are unknown. Its now defunct developer web site reads: “Thanks for all of the years.”
Who’s Social First?
Social First, the brand new steward of Kukouri’s former properties, is made up of former staffers from the Finnish studio. Its personal sport, the Early Entry title Nexus Station, has been billed by PocketGamer as a successor to Pixel Worlds. Founder/CEO Kim Soares advised the outlet the choice to amass Pixel and Tiny Troopers’ rights “was a simple one. […] Most of the Social First staff have been working at Kukouri on both or each of those IPs earlier of their profession, together with myself. We wished to safe the IPs from Kukouri, as they’re legacies of a lot of our staff members.”
Builders spinning up their personal studios to hold on the spirit of their former employer is nothing new, however not all of them wind up buying the properties they as soon as labored on. For the second, Soares hasn’t disclosed something about what’s in retailer for both property. Nevertheless, he did say these acquisitions will not change Social First’s Nexus focus “in any method.”
“Pixel Worlds had among the best on-line communities I’ve ever seen in my profession of 25 years in sport improvement, [and] we actually hope to see that neighborhood come collectively once more in Nexus Station.“
