pirates-of-the-caribbean-armada-of-the-damned posts

Yet another major game developer with PC ties is closing its doors. Our sister site Joystiq confirmed today with publisher Disney Interactive Studios that it was closing its in-house development team at Vancouver-based Propaganda Games.

Formed in 2005, the developer only released two games, both of which were released to the PC platform; the 2008 first person shooter revival of the Turok franchise and Tron Evolution, the movie-based third person action game that was released just last December to poor reviews and sales. The writing was on the wall last fall when Disney Interactive cut half of the studio's staff and canceled another long-in-development game, Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned.

It's not a good day at Propaganda Games. The Vancouver-based development studio owned by Disney Interactive is experiencing mass layoffs following the cancellation of one of the studio's two games, the movie-based RPG Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. The game was first announced back in May 2009 and was due for release sometime in 2011 until today's cancellation announcement.

According to Kotaku, as many as 100 people have been let go at Propaganda Games this week. While not stating exact numbers, Disney Interactive did confirm that the company's development teams have been consolidated from two teams to just one. The remaining team members are completing work on the upcoming Tron Evolution which is still scheduled to be released on December 7.

For press conference highlights, check out Episode 1 and for more E3 2010 action, check out Episode 2 and Episode 4.