Update: After the initial Tweet, found below, it seemed like 5th Cell was closing altogether. Now however, after speaking to both Polygon and Kotaku, CEO and founder of 5th Cell Jeremiah Slaczka says the company is still alive. 5th Cell was forced to layoff the majority of its staff after their publisher Warner Bros. cancelled their current project, the mobile game Scribblenauts: Fighting Words.
Slaczka hasn’t given an official statement, instead opting for a few words to news outlets. Glad to see 5th Cell still lives, but the struggle is all too real. We still hope anyone effected can recover quickly.
Original Story: Through Twitter, I started noticing a few people suddenly talking about 5th Cell closing. They’re best known for Scribblenauts and Drawn to Life, and now it seems they are no more. According to a tweet from Tim Borrelli, lead animator at 5th Cell, the company is gone. No additional information was given, and their official website and Twitter say 5th Cell is still looking for new hires.
RIP 5TH Cell. If anyone is looking for kickass artists, programmers, designers, QA, IT, and more, let me know. pic.twitter.com/xwMZVF76Wb
— Tim Borrelli (@Anim8der) March 21, 2016
Really sudden and sad to hear this news. 5th Cell wasn’t a huge developer, but the games they did put out always put an interesting spin on current game design. Scribblenauts challenged your vocabulary and creativity with a puzzle game and Hybrid took the multiplayer shooter genre and tried to add a strategic, cover-based tactical twist.
We’ll keep you updated if any new information about why 5th Cell is suddenly gone comes up. Hopefully everyone who worked at 5th Cell land on their feet.
