Report: Ninja Theory quits on console games

Update: Turns out Edge were a bit quick to call it quits on Ninja Theory's console development. Here's a statement published by CVG:

"Today it has been reported that Ninja Theory will exclusively pursue mobile gaming development in the future, however it is important to state that these reports are inaccurate. Although we are excited by mobile opportunities, and the release of our first mobile title Fightback, we are not making the transition to a mobile only studio.

"We are currently developing for both console and mobile platforms and plan to do so for the foreseeable future. We believe that the future is digital for all gaming, be it console, mobile or any other platform, and this was the intended meaning of the comments that have been reported on."

Original story: After achieving critical success with a number of titles it comes as something of a surprise that Ninja Theory (DMC Devil May Cry, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West), it seems the developer is turning their focus solely on mobile. Tameem Antoniades spoke at the Slush business conference in Helsinki as transcribed by Edge:

"The AAA games console model is a little bit broken. To us, success is being able to survive. But every now and then you look around at a conference and realise that there's no-one left. That's because of the barriers to entry at the $60 model. The platform holders control the platform and the distribution, the publishers control the marketing and the funding."

"One platform that does seem to be going in the right direction is the Steam Box. It's an open development platform, fully digital and a media server, will doubtless integrate with mobile and tablets, and includes all the flexible pricing included from Steam."

Ninja Theory released their first mobile game Fightback this summer, and Antoniades had some thoughts on the bigger picture of the medium.

"There's no reason to stick with legacy forms. A 15 hour AAA game is a crushing development experience for the producer. It constrains creativity, there's a lot of checkboxes to justify $60. I always said that I didn't know why we didn't go to the 100 hour movie - and we are now. Between Netflix and boxed sets, we watch series from start to finish in one sitting. Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones to me are long forms of old media. I would love, more than anything, to do a 2 hour AAA game and release it for a few dollars. I don't know why we don't have an endless song, that changes as we walk around and senses inputs from the world. We could create entirely new categories of entertainment."

"As creators, our task is to reinvent new forms of entertainment using what we know, in terms of AAA console development, artistry, mobile, free-to-play, in terms of meeting the demand that our players require. "