Mucky Foot shuts its doors as key project is cancelled

Guildford-based developer Mucky Foot has become the latest casualty among UK independent development studios, with the company going into liquidation after a work-in-progress project was cancelled by its publisher.

The studio was working on the videogame adaptation of Bulletproof Monk for Empire Interactive, and it's thought that this is the project which was cancelled, leading to the closure of the company.

Mucky Foot's previous titles included another movie license, Blade II, along with two critically acclaimed original titles - Startopia and Urban Chaos, both of which underperformed commercially despite largely positive reviews.

The liquidation of the studio is the latest in a series of closures which have hit UK independent developers in the past few months. Only weeks ago another Guildford based studio, Lost Toys, shut its doors - its offices were located only a few hundred yards from Mucky Foot's. Other casualties in the past few months have included Computer Artworks, Silicon Dreams and Attention to Detail, while Scottish development group VIS Entertainment shut two of its offices in London and the Isle of Wight recently.