[UPDATE] 5th Cell has released the following statement:

“Unfortunately, due to a project cancellation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today.

Layoffs aren’t something we take lightly and we’d like to thank all our employees for all the hard work and dedication over the years.

5TH Cell as a company is not closing down, but our focus right now is 100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities. If we haven’t already reached out, any interested employer can reach us at jobs@5thcell.com.”

The original story follows:

5th Cell, the developer behind the many Scribblenauts games, has been shuttered, according to a tweet from former lead animator Tim Borrelli. Borrelli has since retweeted many tweets about job openings and talked about the nature of the shut down.

“I was part of the first round of layoffs last week,” Borrelli explained. “Today while I was picking my stuff up they shut the studio down.”

We have contacted 5th Cell PR and will update this story as more information becomes available.

5th Cell was known for its Scribblenauts series, though it also developed the Nintendo platformer Drawn to Life and the Xbox 360 shooter Hybrid.