Disintegration developer V1 Interactive is closing its doors. The studio, founded in 2014, was led by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto and employed around 30 people. The closure less than a year after the launch of their debut title, Disintegration, which was a mixture between real-time strategy (RTS) and first-person shooter games. V1 announced the closure via their official Twitter account.
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
The statement reads:
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.
The statement on Twitter doesn’t go into an additional details about why the studio is officially closing, but the writing seemed to be on the wall since Disintegration’s release mid last year, which came out with little marketing fanfare amidst a pandemic. This challenging release window undoubtedly creating a multitude of uphill climbs, even for a game made by Halo’s co-creator.
V1 Interactive’s Disintegration launched on June 16th, 2020 to rather middling reviews. Just five months later, the multiplayer servers shut down on November 17th, 2020. When the server closure was initially announced in September 2020, V1 stated it was because the game had “struggled to build a significant audience necessary for a compelling multiplayer experience.” This impacted a planned revenue stream in the in-gem marketplace, which was closed down in September, just three months after initial launch.
Disintegration was first unveiled back in 2019, though the game had been in development for a couple years prior to that. Lehto first began exploring the idea as far back as 2014 when V1 Interactive was first formed. Private Division published the game for the independent developer. While Disintegration’s solo campaign still works, it appears that the future of the unique franchise won’t be explored any further.
We wish the best to everyone at V1 Interactive impacted by the studio closure.
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