Forte has closed Rumble Entertainment, marking the company's second studio shutdown in as many months

Mobile game studio Rumble Entertainment, a subsidiary of Forte, has reportedly been closed.

Former senior web architect David Bethune noted on LinkedIn that employees were recently dismissed via a brief five-minute Zoom call, receiving one month’s severance pay.

"I regret to inform you that R Studios, which was formerly known as Rumble, has been closed today by its new owner, Forte. This marks the second studio Forte has shut down recently, following a similar move with Phoenix Labs a few weeks prior," Bethune wrote.

In an impassioned message, Bethune criticized the last two owners of Rumble, Forte, and Aristocrat, as aggressively chasing uncertain future earnings while letting go of the development teams that create the actual content.

The shut down came as a surprise for many employees, especially since the studio's previous CEO, Mark Spenner, had just passed away.

Former lead VFX artist John Beebe expressed his condolences, stating, "Mark kept everything running smoothly and maintained a positive working atmosphere. I will deeply miss both Mark and the studio."

Founded in 2011, Rumble created several popular free-to-play mobile games, including Towers & Titans.

The closure of Rumble follows significant layoffs at another Forte-owned studio, Phoenix Labs. After reducing staff by 34 positions in December—impacting departments such as publishing, HR, IT, and shared services—Phoenix Labs faced another distressing round of layoffs in May, affecting 140 more employees.