Tough times lie ahead Harry, err I mean Replay Studios. Economy and bad selling games never bode well for a developer trying to make in it the big scary world of fickle gamers and unfortunately Replay Studios, makers of Velvet Assassin, appears to be heading towards that nasty b-word. While some are reporting that the studio is closing we won’t assume anything until officially confirmed, bankruptcy doesn’t automatically mean a total shut down.

We never like seeing this kind of news even if we don’t like the games the studios in question are moving. Bankruptcy or other types of financial struggles studios face often lead to layoffs, or “headcount reduction” as EA calls it, and that’s never a good thing. We hope that the bankruptcy leads to a restructuring rather than a full closing and that Replay Studios makes a better execution on their next project, if there is one. Velvet Assassin was good in concept but the final product failed to meet the standards of gamers and hopefully that can prove to be a learning experience.