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Airtight Games reportedly shuts down

• Nathan Gibson
• July 2nd, 2014

Airtight Games, the development studio behind the recently releases Murdered: Soul Suspect has shut down according to a report by GeekWire. Although the official website of the company remains online and doesn’t have make mention of any possible closure, GeekWire confirm that the office space previously occupied by the studio has been boarded up accompanied by a sign indicating the company was shutting down. Reports also suggest that Airtight Games was selling off equipment at their premises prior to today.

The development studio has been operating since 2004. It was made up of a number of industry veterans who had previously worked at companies such as Microsoft Game Studios and FASA Studio, and been part of the development teams behind games such as Shadowrun. Located in Redmond, Airtight Games releases its first game, Dark Void, in 2010. Despite their first title having a six year development time they have since gone on to release Quantum Conundrum, Pixid, DerpBike and Soul Fjord in the last four years.

Murdered: Soul Suspect was their most recent title, releasing on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in June. However, it received poor reviews from critics and went on to perform poor commercially. Despite the game being unsuccessful there was little hint that the studio was in any financial difficulties, with studio president Jim Deal stating in April that: “Existing projects are on schedule and Airtight Games is actively seeking partners for exciting upcoming projects.”

The developer suffered layoffs in April with 14 employees losing their jobs. On the same day it was confirmed that Kim Swift had left the studio to join Amazon Game Studios. She had previously been the lead designer on Soul Fjord. The layoffs appear to be unconnected to the studios apparent closure as Deal explained that they were part of a restructuring of the studio, saying: “This restructuring is part of the normal ebb and flow of game production.”