40 jobs gone as Mindscape quits games

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.

“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.