Mimimi, makers of Desperados 3 and Shadow Gambit, are shutting down – WGB, Home of AWESOME Reviews

In a surprising announcement, Mimimi has announced that it will be closing its doors. Although they intend on putting out a substantial content drop for their latest game, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, later this year, the studio will be ramping down over the next few months before shutting down for good.

“As we look back at our 15-year journey crafting games (and crying about it), we feel grateful for the incredible love and support we received from all of you. “Reads the official blog post. “We cherished every game we made and feel proud of what we were able to accomplish as a studio.”

“At the same time, dedicating the past decade and a half of our lives working on increasingly ambitious games took a heavy personal toll on us and our families. After the release of Shadow Gambit we decided it was the right time to prioritize our well-being and to pull the brakes instead of signing up for another multi-year production cycle.”

Shadow Gambit launched to a powerful reception, currently holding a rating of 85 on Opencritic. I actually wrapped up the “final” mission today in preparation for writing a review, making this news hit even harder. The game is a fantastic stealth strategy title set in a vivid and captivating world of supernatural pirates.

Thanks to the release of Shadow Gambit, all of the people working at Mimimi were also able to get a bonus to help tide them over as they begin the search for new jobs.

Prior to Shadow Gambit, the company developed Desperados 3 which I thoroughly enjoyed, as well as Shadow Tactics: Blade of the Shogun and a standalone expansion titled Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice.

So, why is the company having to close its doors? According to the official post, one of the biggest reasons is also the most predictable: money. “We have to acknowledge that our future production costs are growing faster than potential revenues of our genre.” said the statement. “The increased financial pressure and level of risk became unsustainable. Additionally, whenever our games got close to release and were finally fun to play, a new fight for funding of the following projects started, making this a continuous cycle.”

Sadly this is becoming a common theme among smaller teams. As costs have ramped up, many indie developers are having to choose between their visions and making something more commercially viable. Though Mimimi’s games have done well over the years, they’ve never exactly been massive sellers.

The post also reiterates the struggle that the two founders have faced in regard to balancing work and family time.

“As founders and directors, we found it increasingly difficult to strike a balance between fulfilling internal expectations for the studio and being available for our young families. Meeting our goals of quality, company culture and management requires a constant level of energy that we simply can’t provide anymore.”

It is such a deep sadness to witness a company as talented as Mimimi having to shut down. They developed a stellar reputation for creating excellent stealth strategy games, making experiences for a small but loyal fanbase in which I firmly count myself.

Here’s hoping everyone got a chunky bonus, enjoys their final days and can move on to even bigger and better projects.