Foundation 9 merges studios

Developer Foundation 9 Entertainment has combined The Collective and Shiny Entertainment into one studio.

Foundation 9 acquired Shiny Entertainment in October 2006. Foundation 9 itself was formed out of a merger between The Collective and Backbone Entertainment.

The Collective and Shiny have already relocated to a new headquarters in Irvine, California, but no name has been officially given to the new combined studio.

"Bringing the Shiny and Collective teams together into one larger studio will give them the scale and resources needed to deliver top-notch franchise-based releases across multiple platforms," said Foundation 9 COO David Mann. "We've already moved everyone under one roof, which will help to make a seamless transition for both teams."

The new studio will be led by Shiny's current manager, Michael Persson, who notes: "At this scale we now have the resources to truly distinguish ourselves as the 'go-to' developer for complete sku lines from next-gen to current gen and PSP."

According to Foundation 9, the merger will not create any redundancies.

Shiny Entertainment, formed by Dave Perry, is best known for the Earthworm Jim franchise and games based upon The Matrix license for Atari. The Collective worked on Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith for LucasArts. It is currently developing Shining Hill V for Konami.