While millions of Americans were able to enjoy their Thanksgiving last week, the employees of Marvel Heroes developer Gazillion Entertainment were not able to enjoy the same luxury. The action MMO, which just released a console version mere months ago, was recently announced to be shutting down on Dec. 31—but shockingly, not only was the shutdown moved up by a month, but the studio was shuttered, leaving the developers unemployed for the holiday season.
The closure was officially acknowledged in a tweet:
— Marvel Heroes Omega (@MarvelHeroes) November 27, 2017
Attempting to go to the official Marvel Heroes website will return a dead web page. Last week, Massively OP received a tip that Gazillion employees were let go the day before Thanksgiving, with a termination letter from CEO Dave Dohrmann revealing that “banking creditors have effectively pulled the plug on the company, leading to the termination of almost every employee at the studio and the apparent renege of benefits including accrued PTO.”
Tweets from former Gazillion staff confirmed the news on social media:
Today we were told no severance. Not even paying out PTO. Good job, Gaz. I feared this would happen so I appreciate all the support you’ve given to shasta :https://t.co/aWyk0ja8Jh
— Anthony Gallegos (@Chufmoney) November 23, 2017
I know a lot of people are upset and wanting refunds for their purchases in @MarvelHeroes, but please keep in mind the developers were not paid out PTO, severance, and our medical insurance is ending in 8 days.
— Andrew Hair (@andrewhair) November 22, 2017
Disney, Marvel and Gazillion executives have yet to release any formal statements on the closure of the game’s services and studio. We at Paste wish the developers the best of luck in this tumultuous time.