Yesterday, we learned that the development team behind phenomenal competition fighting game Skullgirls had been laid off from Reverge Labs back in June, and have now formed their own studio after a few months of unemployment. Lab Zero Games have told us that the split was neither "malicious or acrimonious," and that it was probably originally supposed to be a temporary cost-cutting measure.

"Hmm, I'm not sure what to say about this," Lab Zero Games' Peter Bartholow told Dealspwn.com.

"I can say that the layoff was purely a financial matter, and wasn't malicious or acrimonious in any way. In fact, I believe the intent was to hire us back once the financial issues were resolved. But after several months without any resolution, we opted to set out on our own."

It's always galling to see skilled developers laid off after developing great games, but now that Lab Zero Games are back in business (and supported by Autumn Games who owns the Skullgirls IP), we're looking forward to seeing what they have in store. Apparently they plan to work on Skullgirls DLC alongside new projects, so we'll continue to report on their progress over the coming months.

We rated Skullgirls 8/10 in our full review; praising its quest for perfect balance... and success in finding it.