Meta has announced that it is closing the door on Ready at Dawn, the developers behind the Lone Echo series, as well as several PlayStation Portable titles and The Order: 1886 on PS4 effective immediately. Speaking to Android Central, Gio Hunt, VP Oculus Studios, said that the cuts weren’t being made to “save money.” Rather, these cuts are being made to ensure that Reality Labs stays within the new budgetary constraints and that Oculus Studios can make a “better long-term impact” in VR development.
“As many have already heard, this morning Ready At Dawn Studios is closing its doors. I’ve been at RAD for over 10 years and I am incredibly sad to see this wonderful team I’ve grown to love be broken apart this way,” designer director Robert Duncan wrote.
“That said, at least for now I’m trying to focus my effort on (and, let’s be honest, distract myself by) finding solid places for all my dear friends to land. If anyone has any leads/positions they’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I’ll try my best to get you in touch with good folks that might be interested.”
Ready at Dawn was founded back in 2003. They started with PlayStation and worked with them on several PSP titles including Daxter, God of War: Chains of Olympus, & God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and then took the next step on PlayStation 4 with The Order 1886.
Ready at Dawn was acquired by Meta in 2020 and developed Lone Echo and Lone Echo 2. Last year, the developer was part of round of layoffs where 1/3 of the studio was laid off, including the studio head.