Blast Furnace, Activision’s mobile studio that made Pitfall (Free) and Call of Duty: Strike Team ($6.99), a game we thought was quite great in our review, is going to close at the end of the month. That’s a huge blow to Activision’s effort in mobile gaming that started in 2012 when they said that every Call of Duty game would be handled by that studio. It’s also a shame because the Blast Furnace was filled with talented folks from both Team 17 and Rockstar Games.

Either Call of Duty wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped or they decided that mobile wouldn’t be part of their business strategy anymore, focusing instead on console and PC titles. It also could be linked to Vivendi’s recent sale of Activision to a group of investors back in 2013. There’s lots of speculation to be done regarding the how’s and why’s of this decision, but at the end of the day, talented developers are potentially out of a job. Let’s hope this isn’t the last we hear about Activision on mobile and best of luck to all those affected.

[via mcvuk.com]