Another NetEase studio has had its funding pulled without releasing a game, and this time, it's the turn of T-Minus Zero Entertainment and its founder, BioWare and Sony veteran Rich Vogel.
The news was announced by Vogel over on LinkedIn, where he says that T-Minus Zero Entertainment's "journey" with NetEase is "coming to an end". Vogel says that he and his studio have been unable to "secure the funding [it needs] at this time" due to "current market conditions".
Although Vogel doesn't technically say that T-Minus Zero is shutting down, he does say later in the post that the studio's "talented team members will continue to explore new opportunities", so even if the studio is only entering hibernation, it sounds like Vogel doesn't expect a windfall anytime soon.
Vogel founded T-Minus Zero Entertainment back in 2023, at which point he also revealed that his studio was working on an "online multiplayer-focused third-person action title set in a sci-fi universe".
In his LinkedIn post, Vogel says that the project (which is presumably the same one that was revealed at the studio's founding) had a "fully playable hands-on demo", but that this demo was unable to attract funding despite garnering "a lot of interest".
Perhaps Vogel can take some solace in the fact that his is far from the only studio to have NetEase pull the plug on it. Back in November last year, Worlds Untold, the studio founded by Mass Effect's Mac Walters, made the decision to "pause operations" amid NetEase pulling its funding.
It's not just studios that didn't manage to release any games, either; the NetEase outfit responsible for Marvel Rivals, which was based largely in Seattle, was closed down back in February despite the fact that Marvel Rivals appears to be a resounding success.
It's not clear what Vogel intends to do next, but it looks pretty certain that we've heard the last of T-Minus Zero Entertainment, unfortunately. Stay tuned for more on this and all other things industry-related.
