With El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron just a month from release, developer and publisher UTV Ignition has announced that they will no longer be developing games internally. The group has decided to put all its efforts behind a new business model which will see them partner with external developers as a publishing partner.
Speaking to Siliconera, Ignition’s director of business development, Shane Bettenhausen, confirmed that their London Studio has ceased all game development. Both Studios in London and Tokyo will stay open for publishing but will no longer develop any games. The Tokyo Studio is the one responsible for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.
Ignition’s new direction can already be seen in Dragon’s Crown, a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita game in development at Vanillaware and published by none other than Ignition. According to Bettenhausen, Ignition will still have its eyes on creating new IPs such as Dragon’s Crown, as long as the development is outsourced.
This leaves a big question mark on Ignition’s other game in development, WarDevil or Project Kane as it is called now. Nothing was said concerning this title and things have been a bumpy ride for the game since it was originally announced way back in 2004. With Ignition switching gears, this game may likely have already been cancelled.
We hope the development side goes out with a bang when El Shaddai releases next month.
