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Bizarre ending: Tiny Invaders outfit Hogrocket closes

On 'indefinite hiatus'

Bizarre ending: Tiny Invaders outfit Hogrocket closes
Formed by three former Bizarre Creations staffers back at the start of 2011, UK mobile developer Hogrocket has closed its doors indefinitely, it's been announced.

The studio behind iOS release Tiny Invaders has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that those behind the venture are now working on other projects, with the company's longterm future now in doubt.

'Indefinite hiatus'

"Unfortunately Hogrocket is on indefinite hiatus and the three of us have all moved onto new things," Hogrocket co-founder and former Bizarre Creations level designer Peter Collier told the site.

"This was due to a combination of factors, ranging from geographical to financial. It's sad but the three of us all learned a lot."


Tiny Invaders

Collier, who is now working at Cheshire studio Playdemic, was one of three founding Hogrocket members, with the studio having been formed out of the fires of Activision's decision to close Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations in January 2011.

Also on board were communications man Ben Ward and Geometry Wars creator Stephen Cakebread.

'Extremely refreshing'

Following the launch of the firm's debut game, Tiny Invaders, Collier had described working on iOS as "extremely refreshing", claiming the firm believed iOS had "a greater and varied market penetration" than console.

"The triple-A developer pool has been utterly decimated over the past couple of years by publisher cutbacks," said Collier in September 2011.

"All the redundancies mean developers out in the cold but with a bit of money in their back pocket.

"That, coupled with an understandable aversion to re-entering console development again, makes going it alone or with friends an attractive proposition."

[source: GamesIndustry.biz]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.