No More Grinning

If you've been following video game news within any capacity, you might now about how much trouble Swedish game development company GRIN found themselves in after they had three games bomb in a row in close proximity. It's tough for a comparatively (well, to other corporate giants like EA) smaller company to survive on their own merits in a global economy, and GRIN just happened to be another casualty of it. But things like this happen all the time, and hearing about another game development company going down is sadly nothing new. But GRIN's rise and fall happened within a remarkably quick time frame, making it quite a story.

It's a shame, too, because Bionic Commando: Rearmed was an excellent, high quality remake that put them on the mark upon its release on this very day one year ago. GRIN was no different in that the studio began expanding quickly after increased popularity. But that may have all happened a little too fast, as they apparently undertook a little too many projects at once, and suffered the repercussions of that. Again, that kind of thing happens to a lot of companies, but this was all within less than a year.


The thing is, all three games looked pretty promising at a glance. Wanted: Weapons of Fate and Terminator: Salvation ended up being your usual licensed games, despite the first one being pretty good though too short to warrant its $60 asking price. (And the second one having some easy achievements/trophies.) Of the apparently terrible trio, Bionic Commando had the most promise because of its ostensibly solid mechanics. It's a shame that promise wasn't apparently realized. I liked it when I tried it last year, but I can't say I'm a fan of what they did to the characters. Especially Radd. The worst part is that all of them were colossal bombs at retail.

But there's something interesting in the statement they left on their website. In it, they make sure to thank Capcom USA for supporting them, but Warner Bros., who distributed Wanted and Terminator, isn't. On their website, they also say that "too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cashflow situation," which only raises further questions. It's perhaps a signal that this is a tale that is not yet finished, and could get interesting.

 It's a shame, really, because they had a lot of potential and talent. Some of its employees have already found employment at another Swedish-based developer called Outbreak Studios. They're dedicated to making digital games, and since that's what GRIN apparently excelled at, this could be a good thing. Here's hoping all of the good guys and girls there can get jobs elsewhere, though it certainly won't be easy right now.