Housemarque declare arcade is dead, ditch the genre

Nex Machina

Nex Machina is an intense arcade style twin-stick shooter from Housemarque. Taking hints from both Robotron and Smash TV, Nex Machina focuses on pure action, voxel destruction and competition in the distant, cablepunk themed future.

“Arcade is dead,” Finnish studio Housemarque declared today. They’re overstating a little, of course, but they are done with the genre themselves. Housemarque have been making ace arcade games for over twenty years, from Super Stardust through to Nex Machina, but say they’re simply not making enough money to justify making more. So they won’t. They’re not done with games entirely, mind, and say we might be surprised by what they make next. Housemarque aren’t the only folks making arcade games, of course, but it’s a terrible shame to see even they struggled in the genre. (more…)