Confounding Factor to disband, claim reports

Reports today have suggested that Confounding Factor, the development studio founded by Lara Croft creators Toby Gard and Paul Douglas, will cease operations after it finishes up work on Xbox title Galleon.

The company is currently completing the US version of the game, which is now due to be published in North America by Atlus USA early in August. Galleon was launched in Europe earlier this year by SCi, and suffered weak sales and relatively underwhelming critical reaction.

Now several sources are reporting that once the US version appears, Confounding Factor will shut its doors - quoting sources close to the company as the originators of the news. No official confirmation or denial of the rumours has been forthcoming from the studio, which could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

Confounding Factor was formed in 1997 by Gard and Douglas, both of whom had formerly worked on the original Tomb Raider title for Core Design - Gard in particular is often credited as Lara Croft's creator. Galleon was the studio's first game, and was originally pencilled in for a late 1999 launch - but proceeded to slip for over four years, changing its destination platform to Xbox along the way.