U-Sing publisher moves away from software after three decades; Punchers Impact closed
Mindscape has closed down its internal development studio Punchers Impact at the cost of around 40 jobs, the company has confirmed to Develop.
The publisher has also, after thirty years in the games business, decided to work in other technology sectors.
Paris-based Punchers Impact formed in 2009 and went on to build various casual games for home consoles.
The self-explanatory game U-Sing sold well at retail, but Develop understands the music license costs had a stark impact on profits.
Mindscape bet big again on the studio with the PC title Crasher, yet the racing game failed to make an impact.
Advertisement
“We had relied much on that game,” a company spokesperson told Develop.
“It was not a success and was important to us that it was,” the person added.
“We are no longer going to work in the game software business.”
As well as emptying its internal development outfit, Mindscape has also seen a number of executives leave the company. The group has transformed its outlook and is building an interactive toy under the name Karotz.
The Paris-based company’s history treads back to the early eighties, though its journey is splintered by numerous buyouts, divestments and changes to ownership.
When forming in 2009, Punchers Impact drew in developers who had left a number of studios, from EA to collapsed UK outfit Free Radical.
Sorry to hear about the job losses. A small-ish correction for your article though... It was actually The Learning Company that was sold to Mattel for about $3.6bn. Mindscape was sold to TLC for $150m earlier that year.
The Mindscape website appears to have misinformed me.
I've updated the article to reflect this, thanks!
Another correction it's Mindscape France that are quitting games. They have two former subsidiaries that are independently owned - Mindscape Northern Europe and Mindscape Asia Pac both of which have a major focus on gaming. Thanks!
