Namco Bandai’s decision to cut ties with independent studio Bottlerocket over the development of action-horror title Splatterhouse was prompted by “performance issues,” company boss Makoto Iwai revealed today.

So, basically, the only reason why publishers pull the project out from the developer is when the developer isn’t really meeting the requirements. So, unfortunately, this was the case.

I have to be very careful so we don’t make any direct comment on it because whatever we say, people will try to be on the developer side. You know, “The developer is an independent developer trying hard, and evil publishers are trying to get rid of the business by doing whatever they feel like.”

That’s not the case. I just want to be 100 percent clear. There was a performance issue.

Iwai would not go into further details, as it was largely an internal issue, but it’s now clear that the project was heading in the wrong direction. Development on the Splatterhouse reboot is now being handled in-house at Namco Bandai. The title is slated for a release later this year on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Q&A: Namco Bandai’s Iwai Talks Tricky Topics In Western Markets [Gamasutra]

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