Capcom Plucks Clover
The team behind Viewtiful Joe and Okami is dead.
Over its short, two-or-so-year lifespan, Clover Studio has made a name for itself as a bold studio with an eye for provocative art style. Games like Viewtiful Joe and the upcoming Okami gave gamers a new way to look at games. But apparently not enough of them were looking, leaving Capcom with red on its balance sheet and its financial clippers in hand.
The company sent out a death sentence - or press release, if you prefer - today, confirming that on 31 March the studio behind the aforementioned Viewtiful Joe and Okami as well as comedy-fighter God Hand, is no more.
The reason for Clover's demise is, as Capcom puts its, "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." Essentially, Capcom was losing too much money keeping Clover around.
While that is basically that for Clover in Japan, the rest of the world still has a few games from the studio to look forward to, specifically Okami, due in Europe later this year, and God Hand, Clover's new comedy-themed fighting game.
Look for our interview with Clover boss Atsushi Inaba, one of his last ever while at the studio, right here on Kikizo soon.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo
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