Alien: Blackout and The Detail developer Rival Games has shut down
A distinctive studio says goodbye
Finnish developer Rival Games has announced its closure. The news arrives following the cancellation of its "smash-up of two 80s iconic franchises" by Universal Studios, the subsequent struggle to gain funding for its other projects, and the shutting down of potential partnerships due to COVID-19. The news was first spotted by PocketGamer.biz.
Most recently, the studio released its intense, Five Nights at Freddy's-inspired Alien: Blackout. It was a polished and visually sumptuous title that earned generally positive reviews across the board.
It nailed the atmosphere and look of Scott's horror classic, delivering high-tension thrills with ease, though its pacing could occasionally sag, and its climax, according to Dave's review from launch, was less than satisfying. Dave concluded that it was "not essential, but fun for alien fans".
Outside of Blackout, Rival was also known for its hyper-stylish Thief of Thieves and neo-noir adventure The Detail. The former unfortunately never found its way onto mobile, though it will remain for sale on Steam after the studio's closure, unlike the latter, which is set to be removed from both Steam and the App Store.
Blackout will also remain available for purchase for now, and if you'd like to give it a go, it's currently priced at $0.99 over on the App Store and Google Play.
The studio had been pitching The Greenhouse Effect, a third-person adventure game of sorts that you can see a prototype of in the video above. It looked like another interesting, distinctive title from what was an interesting, distinctive studio.
Rival Games' story once again highlights how precarious this industry can be, and how suddenly an acclaimed studio can go from success to closure through no real fault of its own. You can find Rival Games CEO Jukka Laakso's full blog post here.
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