NetEase shuts down Bad Brain Games Studio after The Midnight Riders project fails to secure funding
In another unfortunate event in the games industry, NetEase has shuttered its Canadian subsidiary, Bad Brain Games Studios, making it the second studio to close under the publisher this week, following Fantastic Pixel Castle.
Bad Brain Games, based out of Toronto, was established in 2023 and consisted of former Ubisoft developers, particularly from the Watch Dogs series. The studio confirmed it will halt operations on November 17, 2025, after failing to secure new funding or investment for its project, codenamed The Midnight Riders.
Studio head Sean Crooks broke the news on LinkedIn and said, “It’s with a heavy heart that we share that Bad Brain Game Studios will be closing its doors.”
He explained that the studio had explored every avenue to secure external investment, but to no avail. He praised the team’s “creativity and commitment” as they “pushed creative and technical boundaries every day with passion, imagination, and craft.”
The Midnight Riders was supposed to be a retro-themed action-adventure game featuring a group of school-going teenagers, exploring mysterious worlds on bicycles and hunting down eldritch horrors with everyday objects like slingshots and baseball bats.
Bad Brain Games released a small sizzle reel that drew tons of praise for the project’s art direction and intriguing gameplay.
Despite the sudden halt in The Midnight Riders' development, Crooks stated that the project and its IP remain “available with acquisition or partnership.” The studio is still clinging to hope as Crooks said, “We believe strongly in what was created, and would love to see this world find its way to players.”
Bad Brain Games Studios consisted of nearly two dozen employees, many of whom had been poached from major studios. Unfortunately, staff members are scrambling for new opportunities amid a brutal wave of layoffs in the video game industry, which has left tens of thousands of developers out of work.
Crooks wrapped up the post, stating, “Your encouragement and belief in what we were building meant the world to us. While this chapter is ending sooner than we had hoped, the spirit of what we created at Bad Brain will live on through the incredible people who made it possible.”
This is the third NetEase-related high-profile studio shut down in recent months. The first casualty was T-Minus Zero Entertainment. Yet T-Minus Zero managed to strike a deal with a consortium of veteran directors and founders for the studio’s name and assets.
Bad Brain Games Midnight Riders hangs in limbo, awaiting any interested bidder willing to revive the title.
Source(s)
No comments for this article
