Namco U-Hauls Splatterhouse Dev BottleRocket

Update: Namco Bandai has confirmed that BottleRocket Entertainment is no longer involved with Splatterhouse, which is still due on PS3 and Xbox 360 this year.

"We have decided to part ways with BottleRocket Entertainment but we are committed to bringing Splatterhouse to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year," Namco told Kotaku. "At this time, we are not ready to discuss specific development details about the game and wish BottleRocket the best of luck in their future endeavors."

No reason was given for the sudden shift, though tipsters tell Kotaku that the game has suffered from missed deadlines and content that didn't meet Namco's expectations.

Meanwhile, BottleRocket has issued a statement of its own, telling Gamasutra that, "last Friday, Namco showed up with a U-Haul truck, took all their assets (dev kits, etc.) and informed management that the title was being pulled from Bottlerocket."

Original: Publisher Namco Bandai has released a new trailer for Splatterhouse, with rumors that developer BottleRocket has been pulled from the nearly-complete game.

According to Kotaku's sources, Namco Bandai confiscated all of BottleRocket's assets and development hardware for Splatterhouse on Friday, with the project now in the hands of the internal Namco team that handled the just-released Afro Samurai.

Previously, Afro Samurai animators had apparently joined BottleRocket to help. The action game was reportedly set to be complete and in manufacturing by early March.

As this was BottleRocket's only project, sources indicate that the studio has up to three months before facing closure. Formed by Sony San Diego veterans, the company previously released The Mark of Kri sequel Rise of the Kasai, and was working on a game starring superhero speedster The Flash before publisher Brash imploded.