EA Tiburon vet forms new studio
Row Sham Bow benefits from $684,000 in local and state funding
A new studio, called Row Sham Bow, has been formed by an ex-EA Tiburon veteran in Central Florida.
According to the Orlando Business Journal, the new studio was founded by Phil Holt, who left EA Tiburon some weeks ago.
The studio has apparently taken advantage of local economic development incentives, with $114,000 in funding coming from Orlando and $570,000 from Florida State, with plans to grow to up to 60 employees over time*.
The incentives are part of the Qualified Target Industry (QTI) tax refund program, which gives $3,000 in tax refunds to a company for each new job it create in Florida.
Although not directly named, Madden NFL creator Ian Cummings seems likely to be joining the new company, after he announced he was leaving EA on the Madden NFL blog.
Although Cummings does not mention the new studio by name, former EA Sports chief technology officer Richard Wifall has described himself on LinkedIn as co-founder and technical fellow at Row Sham Bow.
* This story originally reported that the new studio was to be formed by 60 ex-EA Tiburon staff, which was incorrect. GamesIndustry.biz would like to apologise for any misunderstanding caused.