Axe hangs over Rebellion Derby

The future prospects of Rebellion’s Derby studio remains in serious doubt, with company co-founder and CEO Jason Kingsley telling Develop that no-one has stepped up to buy the offices as a going concern.

In January it was revealed that Rebellion’s Derby outfit entered a consultancy period – with staff under threat of possible redundancies.

“It’s quite likely that [the Derby studio] won’t be kept intact in the way it did, but that individual consultancy period is not over yet,” Kingsley told Develop.

“No-one has stepped up to buy Derby as a going concern. We would obviously like someone to, but no one has done so as yet.”

The developer’s Oxford studio, however, remains in excellent health after new release Aliens versus Predator became the UK’s fastest-selling game of the year.

Rebellion is working on “two big projects for non-UK-based publishers, which we are at the mid-stages of” Kingsley confirmed.

But as the consultancy period for the Derby studio nears its end, the chances of studio closure continue to grow.

“Nothing’s been decided yet,” Kingsley added, “we are still on individual consultancy.”