Tony Hawk’s Neversoft studio burns effigy in emotional farewell

Today is the final day of independent operation for 20-year-old games studio Neversoft, best known for its work developing Tony Hawk’s titles and later Guitar Hero games.

Always hard (to say goodbye).

The veteran developer celebrated its own demise by setting fire to a large effigy of its iconic logo – an eyeball on a stick – and by gifting a massive monogrammed Bowie knife to each of its employees.

Neversoft’s staff are being amalgamated into Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward to create one single super-studio, it emerged back in May.

The decision was made after Neversoft aided Infinity Ward on last year’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, and comes several years after the studio last worked on a major franchise of its own.

Neversoft pumped out a Tony Hawk’s title every year from the series’ 1999 original up until 2007’s Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground.

2007 also saw the studio pick up the then-lucrative Guitar Hero license, which it developed from that year’s Guitar Hero 3 up until 2010’s Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Neversoft’s staff are presumably already at work on a future Call of Duty instalment, although one that will no longer feature that famous logo.

This is what Joel gave all of @neversoft on their last day of the studio today. (Yoinked Mike’s pic from FB) pic.twitter.com/LveyTOTYbH

— Stephanie Bayer (@NSSteph) July 10, 2014

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