The game studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, V1 Interactive, is closing up less than a year after releasing its debut title, Disintegration. The studio made the announcement on Twitter, saying, “We are sad to inform you that V1 Interactive is officially closing.”
The statement continued, “We want to thank all the talented people at V1, both past and present, who helped make the last 5 years wonderful. And a heartfelt thanks to the amazing community that supported us.”
We are sad to inform you that V1 Interactive is officially closing.
We want to thank all the talented people at V1, both past and present, who helped make the last 5 years wonderful.
And a heartfelt thanks to the amazing community that supported us. pic.twitter.com/XX6Sxtc32o— V1 Interactive (@V1Interactive) March 8, 2021
V1’s first and only game was the sci-fi shooter Disintegration, which launched in 2020 for console and PC. There were signs of trouble right away for the game, as V1 announced that Disintegration failed to find a big enough audience, prompting the studio to shut down its servers.
Lehto said in his own tweet that V1’s management has been upfront with its developers over the past few months regarding the state of the company and its future.
“At V1, our priority has been to the wellbeing of our employees,” he said. “We’ve been transparent with them about the state of things for months and are making this decision now so they still have ample time to search for new jobs while being supported by our studio.”
At V1, our priority has been to the wellbeing of our employees.
We’ve been transparent with them about the state of things for months and are making this decision now so they still have ample time to search for new jobs while being supported by our studio. https://t.co/XJbWDxazto— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) March 8, 2021
Disintegration launched in June 2020 to mixed reviews from critics. Several said that it tried to do too much by combining real-time strategy mechanics with third-person shooter gameplay. Others, like GameSpot’s own Mike Epstein, enjoyed the fusion of genres.
“When Disintegration works, it really works. You’re shooting guns, you’re calling advances and retreats, ordering missile strikes. You really get the sense that you’re in the thick of it, the heart of a battle,” said Epstein in his Disintegration review. “Both the excitement and stress it induces are testaments to how thoroughly the gameplay draws you in. There are elements around the periphery of the experience that could have been better tuned, but they do not detract from what makes it work.”
Disintegration was published by Take-Two’s indie label, Private Division. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told GI.biz that Disintegration’s sales were “a bit disappointing.”
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