March 22^nd, 2006 (4:33pm) - GameSpot.com is reporting that Capcom Studio 8, a U.S. subsidiary of the publishing giant, closed its doors earlier today, according to a former Capcom employee. Twenty people from the studio are now jobless as a result.

The last project the studio had finished before this unfortunate event had been Final Fight: Streetwise for the PS2 and Xbox, a game that has been panned across the board by critics and wasn’t received very well by consumers either. However, despite the commercial failure of Streetwise, the studio had previously worked on the two Maximo games for the PS2 -- both of which were successful endeavors that were received well by both critics and consumers.

Unfortunately for fans of the Maximo series, a third game in the series doesn’t seem too likely unless Capcom decides to pass the series onto another studio.

Capcom has yet to confirm the closure of Capcom Studio 8, with a rep saying that "Capcom does not comment on day-to-day operations."