Onoma studios, formerly known as Square Enix Montreal has announced its plan to shut down some of its mobile games in 2023.
In a Twitter statement studio, Onoma announced they are shutting down four mobile games namely: Arena Battle Champions, Deus Ex Go, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes.
These games will be removed from their storefronts from the 1st of December and won’t be playable at all after the 4th of January. In-game, purchases have also been suspended immediately. Purchases made in-game previously can still be used by players. But they won’t be refunded if you don’t utilize them.
Here is the full statement from Onoma Studios:
”Arena Battle Champions, Deus Ex GO, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes will be shutting down on January 4th. The games will be removed from the App Store/Google Play Store on December 1st, and current players will not be able to access the games past January 4th. Effective immediately, in-game purchases are stopped. We encourage prior in-game purchases to be used before January 4th, as they will not be refunded. On behalf of the development team, we would like to thank you for playing our games.”
It was announced earlier this month that Onoma’s parent company, Embracer Group, would close the studio and move its workforce to Eidos Montreal. Onoma, along with the remainder of Square Enix’s western studios, was acquired by Embracer Group back in May under the name Square Enix Montreal.
The company was only just renamed last month which makes the closure all the more shocking.
What makes this news even worse is the acquisitions the Embracer group has been making recently.
They recently acquired The Lord of the Rings rights, which is pretty massive – but after buying Square Enix Montreal just a few months ago, the company immediately renamed them Studio Onoma (presumably to soften the blow of shutting down a Square Enix corner) and then closed them down.
It is a sad state of affairs to say goodbye to Square Enix Montreal after all the amazing games they graced us with.