Developers of Tales of Vesperia appear to be in some financial trouble, and from the looks of it, Namco Tales Studio is very likely to close. According to reports, the studio has debt that is reported to be north of $21 million USD.

While the “Tales of…” series is quite popular in Japan, the studio that has been around since 1985 has struggled with success and has only been able to move 230,000 copies of the last release since August of 2008. Of course, this isn’t the best news.

Namco Bandai, who purchased the studio in 2003, is likely to close the studio and file for bankruptcy protection. While the IP rights of the “Tales of…” series would remain with Namco Bandai, the future of the franchise is in doubt. It is expected that word will come in the next several days; but it is not expected to be good.