Today is indeed a sad day for fans of games like Shadowrun, the Mechwarrior series, and the awesome Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge...developer FASA Studio has closed its doors. While the studio's closing had been rumored for a while due to poor sales of Shadowrun (think that $60 price tag for a multiplayer-only game had something to do with it?!?) and other factors, FASA's Mitch Gitelman made it official in a forum post today:

Dear Friends,

It is my sad duty to announce that FASA Studio has officially closed its doors. Today was the official last day of employment for those of us who had not moved on to other positions within Microsoft Game Studios. While the rumors have been circulating forever, we chose to wait on an official announcement because we didn’t want people’s attention distracted from our last product, Shadowrun, a game we love.

As a testament to the team's commitment to Shadowrun, we released three title updates to improve the product even after the team learned we were losing our studio. We have kept our Community Manager and Technical Support Manager on the job to aid and support you and will continue to do so while people continue to play our game. I am pleased that about half of us have found great positions elsewhere in MGS and Microsoft where they can share their experience and passion with the great people there.

But now, as the last of us say our goodbyes to each other, I’m saying goodbye to you on behalf of a group of talented and dedicated professionals who busted their humps for the love of the game. I am proud to have worked with and represented them to you and know that wherever they go, they will continue to kick ass.

Mitch

We would like to wish the members of FASA Studio nothing but the best in their new roles, whether they be at Microsoft or elsewhere. And we hope that the gaming community remembers them for their work done before Shadowrun.