Project Sora Officially Shuts Down

[Omni]

[rightw]

[/rightw]Project Sora, the studio that created Kid Icarus Uprising as well as Super Smash Bros. is closing down at the end of July. No details of exactly why has been posted, but it is not a huge surprise taking into consideration Namco-Bandai's entrance into Smash Bros. development.

What does this mean for the future of Super Smash Bros.?

Fortunately () Masahiro Sakurai will still lead the charge in the development of the new Smash Bros. series. Essentially, Namco-Bandai's influence will replace Project Sora. What did Project Sora's influence contribute to the past Super Smash Bros. games and how will Namco-Bandai's influence affect the future Super Smash Bros. games?

Nothing is set in stone and everything is still up for grabs. With the foundation being completely revamped, there is a good chance that the new Smash Bros. will be very different from its predecessors.

Update: To help clear up some confusion, Sora Ltd., headed by Masahiro Sakurai, will still be on the team. Nintendo officially announced that all three entities (Project Sora, Sora Ltd., and Namco-Bandai) were to originally work on the new Smash 4 game. However, this is no longer the case and it has now decreased to the Sora Ltd. and Namco-Bandai dynamic duo.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5924999/smash-bros-creators-studio-closes-down
Content Contributor: Dark 3nergy

 

[Kewkky]

Interesting stuff, VERY interesting stuff. One really has to wonder what'll be different regarding Smash now. How far will the Namco-Bandai influence go? I can't wait until a 'playable demo' for testing purposes is developed.

After Omni's edit: Ah, I see. Well that's still less influence on his part, but I guess it means we'll be having what we were originally going to get.

 

[Life]

Everyone does know what Sora means (thank you, Kingdom Hearts) right?

Spoiler

"sky"--as in Kid Icarus.

This changes basically nothing. I'm not going to act like I saw it coming, but I probably should have.

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

It means that Namco/Bandai is working on Smash and a studio that was only formed to work on one game won't have any affects on a game that it wasn't even going to work on?

 

[keero16]

As long as Smash 4 is still happening, I'm okay with this.
It's sad, yes, but I'm not really that surprised.

 

[Dark 3nergy]

It means that Namco/Bandai is working on Smash and a studio that was only formed to work on one game won't have any affects on a game that it wasn't even going to work on?

This is what i want to know as well. I'll be keeping my ears to the ground and getting some intel from some people in the industry on whatever happens to SSB4 development. One of my bros tells me that, usually by the time the game is announced, the development of the game is USUALLY half way finished.

What i dont want is a repeat of the past. Smash has been side lined by its developers for so so long and with Namco-Bandai taking the reins, we need to let them know that we deserve a better game and better DLC support to keep the game balanced and functioning properly. However, despite N/B fighting game record I am openly worried about the future of SSB4 since this will be a new thing for N/B and for us. We're basically getting a Smash game without Sakurai being 100% involved.

 

[Banjo2553]

Well, Project Sora was really only created to make Kid Icarus Uprising. Now that its main purpose has been fulfilled, there's not really much reason to keep it. All the team members from Project Sora are still around to help make Smash 4.

 

[Pyra]

Well, Project Sora was really only created to make Kid Icarus Uprising. Now that its main purpose has been fulfilled, there's not really much reason to keep it.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. When the OP said "What did Project Sora's influence contribute to the past Super Smash Bros. games[...]", I was confused, considering Project Sora was a temporary studio made for the development of Kid Icarus, even though it tried to also develop Smash Bros 4. Maybe I'm missing something. Sora Ltd. (READ: Sakurai and his assistant), Project Sora's parent company, was the one who is attributed to all the smash games, not Project Sora, which was founded on January 22, 2009.

All the team members from Project Sora are still around to help make Smash 4.

Common sense would point in that direction, but they're still trying to figure out what happened to Project Sora's employees.

 

[zyth]

Didnt Hal laboratories also have a part in the Smash series?

 

[Zankoku]

Well, Project Sora was really only created to make Kid Icarus Uprising. Now that its main purpose has been fulfilled, there's not really much reason to keep it. All the team members from Project Sora are still around to help make Smash 4.

No, it was not made only for KI:U. The intent was for Sakurai to head up his own public studio subsidiary of Nintendo (Project Sora). They first made KI:U to familiarize themselves with the 3DS hardware and were planning on Smash 4 being the second game to be made by Project Sora. Remember, the Project Sora site had a hiring page, which isn't exactly useful if its only purpose were to build and put out KI:U. Clearly something happened (not enough staff? Sakurai doesn't like being a director/producer? Nintendo changed its mind about funding the studio with their 72% share?), which is likely around the time that Namco-Bandai was called on to build the prototype engine. Also, the current status of the ~30 people in Project Sora is unknown... hopefully, they were just spread among Nintendo's studios or something, but we can't really be sure.

Didnt Hal laboratories also have a part in the Smash series?

Very observant. Yes, HAL Labs was where Sakurai originally worked, and so they were the development studio responsible for Smash 64 and Melee. Sakurai later left HAL Labs and formed his own independent development studio, which as far as anyone knows consists of Sakurai and maybe a couple others. Anyway, Sora Ltd., along with staff from other studios like Game Arts (Lunar series, Grandia series, Turtles Smash Up) and Monolith Soft (Xenosaga series, Xenoblade, Namco x Capcom, Project X Zone), was contracted by Nintendo to make Brawl, which is why you'll see the Sora logo there.

 

[Signia]

We're basically getting a Smash game without Sakurai being 100% involved.

After Brawl, I think this is a good thing.

 

[DrinkingFood]

After Brawl, I think this is a good thing.

What he said. Brawl was a mess. I, and many other "anti-brawl"ers really aren't asking much- a little (preferably a lot) more control over our characters. The dynamic AD and the ability to shorten some move lag with proper timing would be a great start, but by no means should they stop there. I don't want a slow game where you trip, and are very limited in terms of how you can move your character.

 

[κomıc]

There's a bit of misconception-

Project Sora NEVER worked on Smash Bros. Sora Ltd. did.

Project Sora was specifically made to work on Kid Icarus Uprising only.