News is coming in that yesterday (Friday) was the final day for the Brisbane arm of KMM (Kennedy Miller Mitchell) Games. The short-lived studio was formed in November 2010 after the closure of Krome Studios to work on a multi-platform Happy Feet 2 movie-license game, but has been slowly winding down operations in the past few months as the project nears completion.
The end of the Brisbane studio may not come as much as a surprise to many of our readers since commentators had already confirmed that a closure was coming since there were no projects after Happy Feet 2 for the Brisbane staff. True to the comments posted on tsumea a few months ago, the studio was expected to finish up operations this month.
The 40 or so staff who were contracted to work at KMM Games Brisbane consisted mainly of ex-Krome Studios employees with a long history of Krome titles under their belts. The comments posted in August, this year, confirming KMM Games Brisbane's closure are as follows...
I've got alot of mates on the KMM bris team, they have been told their contracts wont be being renewed and last ones finish around October sometime.
The KMM bris team are the Arthur/Pinata/Spyro/GOG team. The were by far the strongest of the game teams at Krome and really mostly made of of really talented hardworking blokes. Sucks that they are getting the arse, but IMHO they will find new jobs easily enough.
Sean Edwards on Sat, 06/08/2011
Yes its true...
The team have been given notice that there will not be another project for them after Happy Feet 2.
The KMM Brisbane team is made up a of a mix of people with experience from a variety of studios from around the world, many of the staff who joined Krome shortly before its closure.
There are members from Rockstar North, Ex Pandemic staff, Bullfrog, Interplay and Krome, make no mistake it is a very skilled and senior team.
There are a variety of reasons why the Brisbane studio is being closed, none of them are due to performance. The team has completed the HF2 project on time, on budget to a standard KMM and WB are very happy with.
KMM Games still have a remaining games studio in Sydney which was initially toying with the idea of a Mad Maxrelated game. Recent rumours have indicated that L.A Noire developer, Team Bondi, was to be absorbed into KMM Games in Sydney, with Team Bondi staff given the option to migrate over.