Idea Fabrik founds Second Star in North Virginia
New studio headed by Darrin Hyrup to develop HeroEngine titles
Idea Fabrik, the company behind the HeroEngine which powers Star Wars: The Old Republic, has founded a new studio in North Virginia, headed up by industry veteran Darrin Hyrup.
The studio, Second Star Interactive, will be working on the development of an in-house title utilising the HeroEngine, the first game developed by Idea Fabrik to do so. Hyrup was a founder and executive at Mythic Entertainment, and has seen a wealth of experience in the onlne games market. His team contains staff who have previously worked at Electronic Arts, Mythic, Bethesda Softworks and Sony Online Entertainment.
"Developing our own games is a critical part of our efforts to expand and enhance our technology because it keeps us close to the HeroEngine user experience," said Neil Harris, president of US operations and COO of Idea Fabrik. "Darrin and the Second Star team bring a wealth of experience and practical contributions to the table that will help us grow both as a technology provider and as a company."
The HeroEngine was released in 2006 and is currently licensed to a number of third parties looking to release games powered by it during the course of 2011.