Last week, we brought you word that Namco had dropped developer Bottlerocket Entertainment from working on the this-gen version of horror/splatter game Splatterhouse. Here's what Namco vice president Makoto Iwai said on the matter:
"The only reason why publishers pull the project out from the developer is when the developer isn't really meeting the requirements. So, unfortunately, this was the case... We have to be very careful so we don't make any direct comment on it because whatever we say, people will try to be on the developer side... I just want to be 100 percent clear. There was a performance issue."
"Not so fast," Bottlerocket replies. Well, actually, they replied with a statement reading:
"We too have to be careful of what we say since publishers have to worry about their 'image' and will sue small, independent studios who bark back at them too loudly.
"Game development contracts are put in place to protect the publisher and their interests. Within these contracts are a series of defined game development objectives and goals called milestones. If a developer is under performing they tend to fail these milestones and have varying degrees of accountability placed upon them.
"Splatterhouse had been in development for over eighteen months and up to having the title taken away from us we had not missed any contractually defined milestones. So either there were no performance issues during that timeframe or Namco’s management of the title was inept."
Wow! Things are heating up in this war-of-words, eh? Sometimes, game development is like high school...except with fewer girls.
As far as I know, Splatterhouse is still in the works for the PS3 and 360. I'll let you know if I hear anything else.
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