Lair Developer Closes Doors

Kris Erickson • Dec 22, 2008 • Comments (0)

Poor economic conditions continue to take their toll on small video game developers. Today we received news that Factor 5, the developer behind the Rogue Squadron series -- and more recently, the PS3 dragon flight simulator Lair -- has shuttered its doors.

Lair was hyped early in its development for next-gen visuals and an abundance of enemies on-screen at any given time. Upon its release, Lair delivered in the graphics department, being one of the standout early titles in the PS3 library. As we all know however, eye candy does not always make a hit game. Unfortunately for Lair, its makers decided at the last minute to adopt a motion-only control scheme that made guiding the game’s dragons a real chore. A patch was eventually released to improve controls and add support for the analogue stick, but it came too late to impact sales, which were low following disastrous reviews. Factor 5 gained notoriety for standing up and defending the game in public against journalists, saying that poor reviews were due to the latter’s inability to “get” the game’s realistic dragon handling.

Before Lair, the developer was involved with some rather more successful projects. Factor 5 was the creator of the Rogue Squadron games on the N64 and Gamecube, which remain some of the most beloved titles from that console. They were also graphical powerhouses that pushed the limits of their respective systems. Factor 5 was rumored to be working on a follow up to Pilotwings or Kid Icarus on the Wii. We don’t know how this closure might affect any Wii games currently in development at the company.