Rag Doll Kung Fu creator establishes new studio

Mark Healy, former designer at Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that he has established a new independent development studio called Media Molecule.

"We plan to make Media Molecule a really respected independent developer, and we've already put together a first class core team," Healy told GI.biz.

Media Molecule currently employs a team of around ten staff, some of whom also worked with Healy at Lionhead on acclaimed titles such as Black and White, Syndicate Wars and Fable, but the new venture is very much in its infancy and as such, no firm details regarding the debut game have been announced to date.

"We haven't made any kind of official 'announcement' of our plans or existence yet -which will be coming later this year. At the moment, we are all mega busy, heads down, headphones on, and screens burning away - trying to get something up and running."

Healy added that the staff are currently working on completing a workable demo of the new game to pitch to prospective publishers within the next three months.

Healy left Lionhead last December to pursue new projects, releasing the critically acclaimed Rag Doll Kung Fu - which began life as a side project for the designer - through Valve's Steam digital distribution service.