Torus Games, a Melbourne game development institution with a near-30-year history and 146 games developed across 40 platforms, has been “effectively shuttered” with eight employees let go.
The news comes via a post on X from journalist and Eureka Prize winner Jack Ryan, who also shared that Torus’ founder Bill McIntosh will remain in place for now to “take care of things” as business continues for the time being, and that the studio had a number of projects in recent discussion but had been unable to kick anything into gear.
The family-run studio was founded in 1994 and published more than 140 games, often work for hire tie-ins to huge IP like How to Train Your Dragon, Ben 10, etc.
McIntosh told me Torus "will continue as a business for the time being" with just him to take care of things.
— jack ryan ? (@dctrjack) March 1, 2024
Torus Games’ lengthy list of credits, both as a support studio and as as lead, includes the likes of LEGO 2K Drive, World War Z, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Spider-Man: Battle for New York and a huge number of games based on globally-recognised brands and IP like Disney, Cartoon Network, Barbie, Dreamworks and more for nearly 50 high-profile publishing and development clients over its many years. It’s also been considered something of a filter for emerging game dev talent.
Torus has been around longer than a number of local developers have been alive, so it’s incredibly sad to see the doors effectively shut amidst a year that’s already been especially cruel in the industry. In the scant few times I’ve interacted with the team or even visited the studio it’s been nothing but a warm reception, and hopefully everyone let go is able to land on their feet.
