Two NetEase-funded companies founded by MMO veterans, T-Minus Zero Entertainment and Fantastic Pixel Castle, shared the fate of losing NetEase's support, just like many other studios. Both have scrambled to find alternate publishers and ways to stay alive, and now, they have two announcements - one of hope and another of (almost) defeat.
T-Minus Zero announced in a press release that a small group of veteran directors and founders has decided to acquire the studio name to carry the team's spirit forward, and they are relaunching as an independent production company. The studio now aims to create high-quality gaming experiences that bring people together with a close-knit team of veteran technical and creative leaders who work exceptionally well together. T-Minus Zero also claims to already possess a 'genre-forward concept' with substantial proof of interest and scalability across platforms.
Zachary Beaudoin, the new CEO, stated that the team is now seeking co-financing partners for T-Minus Zero's next round of development financing. Beaudoin previously worked at BioWare, Blizzard, and Crystal Dynamics.
As for Fantastic Pixel Castle, we already knew the studio was in serious trouble. Yesterday, founder Greg Street confirmed in a LinkedIn post that the studio now has a closure date: November 17. There is a chance the studio might still secure funding for its Ghost MMO after this date, but by then, the priority will be to help team members find employment.
I had interviewed both Greg Street and Rich Vogel (the original founder of T-Minus Zero) back in 2023 when NetEase established the respective studios. Street was a key figure at Blizzard on World of Warcraft and later at Riot Games on League of Legends and the League of Legends MMO that was eventually rebooted last year. Rich Vogel, on the other hand, had worked on Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. It is currently unclear whether he'll stay after the studio's reboot.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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