Capcom squashes Clover, lights out for bright studio
Quality doesn't always pay the bills, as Clover Studio found out today. Capcom's Board of Directors has elected to dissolve the promising studio, which was formed in July 2004 and brought us the acclaimed Viewtiful Joe series before unleashing its masterpiece, Okami, just last month (in North America). Clover's latest project, God Hand, was released just this week! Here's Capcom's cold official explanation:
"Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home video game software, however, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed at a Board of Directors' meeting."
But it may not be all doom and gloom. Wired's Game|Life blog reports, via anonymous sources, that the superstars behind Clover have decided to up and make their own independent development studio. So, if Game|Life is correct, then Capcom's dissolution of Clover could simply be because Clover had jumped ship, eager to get out from under Capcom's oppressive thumb and finally make the creative and unique games they'd always dreamed of ... err, wait a second.
[Thanks to everyone that sent this in]
