Playground Games, one of the developers of Forza Horizons, has hired GTA V developers for its new open-world action RPG.
The developer studio has opened up a new studio for the project, taking the headcount now to 400.
Roping In The Talents
Playground Games, with its first ever venture to develop a non-racing game, has roped in key talents from the gaming industry.
The story was first brought out by GamesIndustry, which reported that Playground Games is developing a new game where it has ramped up its efforts by setting up a new team. The game is now described as an open-world action RPG.
The latest addition to its fold is Sean Eyestone who was instrumental as the production director for Battlefront 2. He left that post to join Playground Games in a new role. Eyestone also spent nearly 10 years with Kojima Productions on its various Metal Gear Solid games. Thus, he has a hefty experience in developing non-racing games, which will come handy in the new job.
Chief designer Will Kennedy is among the new hires for the second team. Before joining Playground Games, he spent eight years at Rockstar North. Kennedy worked there as level and game designer, promoting to a senior online mission and the flow designer for Grand Theft Auto V.
Apart from these two, Juan Fernandez di Simon joins in as principal combat designer. Before di Simon joined Playground in October, he was working as a senior designer on Hellblade from Ninja Theory. Before Hellblade, he was with Rime developer Tequila Works for three years.
Dev Launches Second Studio
The news on new hires has coincided with the Playground's new office launch as its second studio. The office is located in its hometown, Leamington Spa. According to reports, the company has big plans for the refurbishment of the new studio space, which will have two floors. It will occupy the first floor for now and will move to the second floor by the end of 2018.
"We're delighted that we've secured the second studio to house our new team," says CEO Gavin Raeburn.
The project started by Playground Games seems to be attracting a lot of talent to its premises. All it means is that the developer is on to a big exciting project. The mixing of the old with the new in the form of new hires will garner more promising outcome for the developer. It will be interesting to see how its first ever non-racing game turns out.
