Former Naughty Dog and Blizzard staff form new studio

A group of former senior staff from successful developers Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment have announced that they are to form a new development studio, called Ready at Dawn Studios.

The new company will include former Naughty Dog senior programmer Didier Malenfant, former Blizzard senior artist Ru Weerasuriya and fellow Blizzard alumni, senior software engineer Andrea Pessino.

The three co-founders have worked on massively successful titles including Jak & Daxter, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft and Starcraft: Ghost - a track record which means that plenty of publishers will be interested in talking to them, as Pessino, who is technical director at the new studio, confirms.

"The interest we've already generated in the industry has been incredible," he commented, "and goes to show that, at the end of the day, it's still about the individuals behind the games and their ability to deliver and turn solid concepts into successful titles."

The company, which is based in California, has already commenced work on its first title, and is seeking staff to fill the remaining places on its small team.