Famous game designer Greg Street is currently facing an uncertain future with his game development studio, Fantastic Pixel Castle, reportedly on the verge of shutting down. Street, known for his essential role at heavyweight game studios Blizzard and Riot, has delivered the unfortunate news that Fantastic Pixel Castle may soon close its doors. Founded in 2023, the studio has been under the guidance of Street, responsible for his significant input in games like World of Warcraft at Blizzard and League of Legends at Riot Games.
The studio has been diligently working on an original fantasy massively multiplayer online game provisionally titled ‘Ghost’. Sadly, news about the probable closure of Fantastic Pixel Castle has emerged a few weeks following Street’s announcement concerning the end of the studio’s stint as a first-party developer under NetEase Games’ wings. The team has been actively seeking fresh financial aid since.
Street expressed optimism over the possibility of securing financial backing even after the planned closure of Fantastic Pixel Castle on November 17th. He admitted, however, the challenges of finding an investor for a large-scale MMO. He further expressed his concerns on LinkedIn, regarding the team’s preservation post potential closure and prioritized finding employment for his developers.
Known as ‘Ghostcrawler’ within the World of Warcraft community, Street held the lead systems designer role at Blizzard from 2008 until 2013, during the game’s peak years. Street later joined Riot Games to work on League and an unnamed MMO set in the League of Legends universe before retiring from his executive position at Riot in 2023.
The projected closure of Fantastic Pixel Castle comes in the wake of NetEase’s retrenchment from studios outside China, affecting various studios, including Worlds Untold, Jar of Sparks, and Ouka Studio. Despite this, Street was confident earlier this year that Fantastic Pixel Castle would avoid NetEase’s cuts. Amid the uncertainty, he expressed his gratitude towards NetEase for their support and individuals who made an effort to aid in raising capital.
While the future of Fantastic Pixel Castle hangs in the balance, the gaming community and its stakeholders anticipate the outcome, hoping for a successful turnaround.
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