Project Sora has closed down after releasing Kid Icarus: Uprising on the Nintendo 3DS. When it was released in March, Kid Icarus: Uprising debuted to positive reviews and sales. After a strong release, it seemed like the developer, Project Sora, the company created by Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai in 2009 as a subsidiary to Sora Ltd., would go far. Unfortunately, it looks like the companies’ life is short-lived as the company closed on June 30th and the website will shutdown at the end of month.
After the release of Kid Icarus:Uprising, Project Sora was supposedly working on the new Super Smash Bros. for the both the Wii U and 3DS. Last month however, it was announced that it would be co-developed by Namco-Bandai. Sorta Ltd. is still overseeing the production of the new Super Smash Bros. game.
Project Sora was initially created with a hefty investment from Nintendo to develop Kid Icarus: Uprising. With that title finished, it seems that Project Sora is no longer needed and that initial partnership has ended. Still, Sorta Ltd. and Masahiro Sakurai, the man behind Sorta Ltd., are still working with Nintendo for the foreseeable future.
I believe the studio was created solely for the purpose of creating Uprising, so this makes sense.