Silicon Dreams veterans launch new studio with Gusto

A group of key staff from the Silicon Dreams development studio, which was shut down last month, have formed a new company - Gusto Games - which will focus on developing online, community-driven titles.

The new studio is made up of 11 staff members from Silicon Dreams, most of whom worked in the core technology group or as lead gameplay programmers, and all of whom had worked at the company for in excess of eight years.

Fred Gill is managing director of the new studio, which is moving into new premises in the Oxfordshire town of Banbury this weekend. "I know that we have a dedicated, experienced and proven group of talented individuals, with a track record of delivering games on time," he says of the new studio.

Gill says that the company is committed to providing games with strong online and community building features, and believes that this approach is the future for both current and next-generation platforms. He also highlights the company's experience with football titles - many of the core Gusto Games team worked on Silicon Dreams' football games, which range from Fever Pitch on the SNES up to Michael Owen's World League Soccer on PSX and N64 and the UEFA Champions League franchise on PC, PSX and PS2.

"The team has a wealth of experience within the football development field," commented Gill, "and as a result we would welcome discussions with any publisher looking for a developer to provide an affordable, mid to long term soccer solution for their existing product portfolio."

Gusto Games is the first development studio to rise from the ashes of Kaboom Group, the midlands-based company which went into liquidation last month, forcing the closure of both Silicon Dreams and another developer, Attention To Detail. Only one studio - Bath-based Pivotal Games - survived the implosion of the group, and was purchased by publisher SCi in order to safeguard the future of the Conflict: Desert Storm franchise.