Motiga, the developer behind the free-to-play MOBA-esque shooter Gigantic, closed its doors today. According to a statement given to Destructoid by Motiga CEO Chris Chung, the decision was made by the studio's publisher, Perfect World, for purely budgetary reasons. "Yes, [the closure] was the corporate decision. It was a budgetary decision at the highest level," said Chung. 

The road to Gigantic's release earlier this year was difficult for Motiga. Originally set to release exclusively on Windows 10 with Microsoft as its publisher, Gigantic struggled with release date pushes, platform shifts, and significant team layoffs last year. Perfect World joined the project mid-development, after Microsoft dropped out as a publisher, but the company's relationship with Motiga was more than that. Perfect World quietly acquired Motiga and made its involvement with Motiga more of a "partnership." 

Unfortunately, even after Gigantic's release in June 2017, the game hasn't been the financial success that Motiga needed or Perfect World wanted. Although a small team will continue to work on Gigantic for an indeterminate amount of time, the rest of Motiga has been let go due to what Chung describes as a "decision to cut parts of the company that were not profitable." Chung went on to say in his statement that despite all the setbacks, the Motiga team remained close even until the announcement that the developer would shut down. "As someone that created Motiga from scratch, it's a sad day for me but I am proud of the team we built and the culture we established at Motiga," Chung said. "I was hugged by everyone today and you don't see that kind of reaction in most companies through an ordeal like this."

It should be noted that Motiga is not the only team affected by Perfect World's decision, according to Chung. Other Perfect World properties could meet a similar fate in the near future.

"Today was a tough day for all of us who have been part of this extraordinary journey," Chung said in a second statement. "We wish the best for everyone that were impacted and we will do everything we can to help them find a new home."

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Runic Games, the developer that rose to prominence with Diablo-like Torchlight in 2009, has also been shuttered by owner Perfect World.

The announcement, which comes hot off the heels of Perfect World closing down Motiga today, is only a few weeks after Runic released Hob on PlayStation 4 and PC. It is not known whether the game's sales performance factored in to the decision to close down the studio.

Runic had plans after the release of Torchlight to pursue a Torchlight MMORPG. Shortly after, Perfect World bought a $8.4 million stake in the studio, effectively buying them outright. As Torchlight II released, the MMORPG was cancelled, and work began on Hob, which was announced at PAX 2015

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Lo de Motiga ni idea, pero lo de Runic ha sido totalmente inesperado después de haber sacado un juego hace apenas unos días. Una pena que nos quedemos sin la posibilidad de otro Torchlight.