Sadly, Capcom decided to break up one of the most refreshing and innovative development studio we’ve seen in the past few years. Clover Studio, the creators of awesome games such as Viewtiful Joe, Okami and God Hand, will be fully dismantled by the end of March 2007. Rumor has it that the people from Clover might ‘from Capcom and form their own independent development studio’ but those are still vague rumors.

The 64 employee big studio was founded in 2004 by a bunch of people who worked on other Capcom games such as Devil May Cry and Resident Evil. Most of the employees worked together on first Viewtiful Joe game at Capcom Studio 4 before they formed Clover Studio. Capcom usually works with nameless internal development studios (Capcom Production Studio 3 is responsible for the first 3 Resident Evil games for instance) but Clover was formed so they could work independently from the rest of Capcom, offering these guys more freedom.

Clover’s first job was the PS2 port of Viewtiful Joe, soon followed by Viewtiful Joe 2 on both NGC and PS2. After some Viewtiful Joe spin offs they released Okami, a well received and highly original title, taking Viewtiful Joe’s cell shading graphics even further.

Okami

Their latest, and sadly last, effort was God Hand. This is also their first title not using cell shaded graphics. The game, which is yet to be released in North America and Europe, is highly acclaimed by beat ‘em up fans. IGN gave this title a 3.0 in their error-filled review, probably because they don’t like good games. Other publications such as 1UP and Gamespot gave this game 8s.

It’s a shame to see studios such as Clover getting shut down while annual roster update crap like FIFA07 sells like crazy. It’s not just a sad day for the fans of Clover, it’s a sad day for everyone who prefers fresh and original games to the bug filles crap EA shoves down our throats. I sincerely hope that all of the employees at Clover manage to find new jobs, hopefully one where they’re allowed to work with full artistic freedom.

Viewtiful Joe

Okami is currently available in stores in the US and is set for a release in February in Europe. God Hand is scheduled for early October in the US and also hits stores in February in Europe. Both games are PS2 exclusive.