Ready at Dawn, VR Studio Behind Lone Echo and God of War PSP, Shuttered by Meta
Ready at Dawn, a venerable game studio that once worked on God War and Daxter among other projects, is closing its doors. Android Central reports that Meta is shuttering the studio effective immediately, with employees being encouraged to apply for other positions within Oculus Studios.
The closure follows Meta's decision to discontinue Echo VR in 2023, which coincided with major layoffs impacting a third of the studio. Oculus Studios had previously acquired Ready at Dawn, which had found success with the Lone Echo series, to develop VR games for its platforms.
Brutal to hear about the closure of Ready at Dawn. Here’s a documentary I made about the studio while at Game Informer. Woof, double-whammy of sadness this week. https://t.co/Nd9NU5vqkH
"As many have already heard, this morning Ready At Dawn Studios is closing its doors. I've been at RAD for over 10 years and I am incredibly sad to see this wonderful team I've grown to love be broken apart this way," designer director Robert Duncan wrote. "That said, at least for now I'm trying to focus my effort on (and, let's be honest, distract myself by) finding solid places for all my dear friends to land. If anyone has any leads/positions they'd like to share, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I'll try my best to get you in touch with good folks that might be interested."
The games industry mourned the closure on social media and elsewhere, with many describing it as underappreciated. MinnMax founder Ben Hanson posted a documentary he produced with Game Informer that provides a snapshot of the studio circa 2014, when it was preparing to release The Order: 1886.
Ready at Dawn's history extends all the way back to 2003, when it was formed by former employees of Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment. It was particularly well-known for its prowess on the PlayStation Portable, producing multiple God of War games for the platform.
Following the mixed reception of The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn began to move into
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