No more "creating things with gusto."
The studio behind Rime has officially filed for insolvency.
Who are Tequila Works?
Tequila Works is a small spanish studio that was founded in 2009 by Raúl Rubio and Luz Sancho and had a small crew of developers at the beginning. Their motto was "creating things with gusto."
Their first project was Deadlight, a sidescrolling survival horror game, published in early 2012. It was met with decent success and the studio went on to publish their next project, the gorgeous adventure game Rime, in 2017.
There were also a few partnerships and collaborations with other studios, such as Gametrust Games to create the VR game The Invisible Hours or Cavalier Game Studios for The Sexy Brutale.
In March 2022, Tequila Works received an undisclosed investment from Tencent, a multinational video game and technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. But, it clearly wasn't enough.
Tequila Works files for insolvency
Tequila Works have now filed for insolvency.
The two leads of the studio, Rubio and Sancho, both left the studio right after the filing of the insolvency. Now, their former chief operating officer Térence Mosca is filling in as the acting general manager.
Mosca made it clear in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz that the insolvency is the result of "prolonged market conditions."
Not too long ago, Tequila Works announced on their LinkedIn, that they already had to cancel an entire unannounced game because of a significant lack of money. A few workers were also laid off due to these circumstances.
With deep regret, we must inform of the decision to cancel an unannounced game. This tough decision means we will be restructuring the studio to concentrate on the development of only one game. These changes will have an impact to a small number of roles at the studio.
This is an incredibly difficult time, and our focus is to provide the support and guidance to those affected.
They are currently struggling to stay afloat, even showing signs of being unable to properly compensate their workers despite urging them to "fulfil their responsibilities."
All in all, it is not looking great for this beloved studio, and it really does seem like it will be closed entirely in the near future.
What are your hopes for Tequila Works? Are you sad to see them in this state, or did you already see this coming? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
