A little while back, and much to the chagrin of Luke who was just writing up a piece on the game, Namco Bandai informed everyone that they had taken away Splatterhouse from Bottlerocket very abruptly. It has to hurt to have the carpet pulled out from under you like that, especially when you’re working on such a beloved property. The game was given to the in-house Afro Samurai team who apparently aren’t so great at making Splatterhouse (possibly because they weren’t so great at making Afro Samurai either). Who did Namco Bandai put on the new project? Why the old Bottlerocket team of course, or some of them at least.

Apparently Namco Bandai’s problem was not with the developers at Bottlerocket but with the management, and how do you get rid of management? You take your game away and then hire 10-20 of the devs from Bottlerocket and open a studio in San Diego to finish the game. Same team, less hassle, game gets done. Of course how well is it going to get done after being handed off so many times? Ever seen the original Casino Royale? The more hands the more messed up the pie. Of course a Splatterhouse pie would look pretty messed up no matter how you cut it.