Forte has shut down mobile game developer Rumble Entertainment. Posts from several former employees of the studio suggest the decision was taken two weekends ago. The entire staff of the studio was laid off with one month of pay.
The news is particularly sad because it is coming just weeks after the passing away of the studio’s former CEO, Mark Spenner. After it was founded in 2011, Rumble Entertainment designed several free-to-play mobile games including Towers and Titans.
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Headquartered in Los Angeles, Rumble Entertainment described itself as “a globally-minded production company dedicated to creating premium entertainment for screens of all sizes”. The studio’s official website now has just the company Logo at the center and an About Us page. Every other feature has been wiped off.
“Since its founding, the company has also launched Caspian Media Capital, a film fund joint venture with Well Go USA – a leading theatrical and home entertainment distribution company specializing in bringing genre and Asian content to North American audiences. Together, we produce movies for worldwide appeal,” read the About page.
The reason behind the closure remained unclear. In the last couple of years, Rumble Entertainment has been working on Towers and Titans, a blockchain-based tower defense RPG. The game was available on iOS, Android, and PC.
Ex Rumble Entertainment employees react to the studio’s closure
GameBaba Universe has sighted three posts from people who used to work at Rumble Entertainment. Two of the posts were made a week ago while one was made just four days ago, at the time of writing this post.
In a post made over a week ago, lead VFX artist John Beebe said he has spent over a decade at Rumble Entertainment and that it had been a wonderful place to work. However, he admitted that nothing lasts forever.
“I’d been at Rumble for over 13 years when it abruptly closed. I’ve learned, grown, laughed, and met many amazing people,” Beebe wrote. “I am especially grateful to Mark Spenner, our CEO, who recently passed away. Mark kept the studio running and fostered a healthy productive work environment. I will miss Mark and the studio.”
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“I regret not seeing our current game Towers and Titans reach its full potential. The game looked fantastic and was a ton of fun to play.”
At around the same time, game producer Darius Dosanjh Germano also wrote about the studio closure while also paying tribute to the deceased former CEO of the studio.
“Last Friday, my colleagues and I at Rumble Entertainment received news of the studios’ immediate closure,” Germano wrote. “Our CEO Mark Spenner sadly passed away last month – which has made this an even more difficult time for my now former coworkers and I.”
“The last 3 years have been a journey that has changed my life in a number of overwhelmingly positive ways, and it saddens me that our Tower Defense game, Towers & Titans – will not achieve the glory it deserved.”
The most recent post about the studio closure was made by lead systems designer Kevin Bargeron. He said, “Last week Rumble Entertainment Closed its virtual doors for the final time. I am really proud of the work the entire team did on Towers & Titans, still alive for a very limited time on mobile”.
According to Bargeron’s post, Towers and Titans will likely be pulled offline in the near future. The devastating news is coming months after Forte made layoffs at Phoenix Labs. Last December, Phoenix Labs was hit by redundancies which affected 34 employees.
