Former Split/Second Developers Form New Studio

Alumni from Disney-owned Black Rock Studios (Split/Second) have formed a new studio, called Roundcube Entertainment, following a round of lay-offs earlier in the month. According to a news report on UK website GamesIndustry.biz, Split/Second game director Nick Baynes is Roundcube's studio head, and Ian Monaghan, former Black Rock senior producer, is the new studio's development director. A cursory search of LinkedIn profiles showed no additional Roundcube employees. Black Rock was hit by massive redundancies early this month. An estimated 30 team members remain, according to the report, of the approximately 140 employees who were there at the beginning of May. The layoffs at Black Rock were the latest in a series of moves that see Disney Interactive shifting its focus to social gaming, a facet of the industry that Disney CEO Bob Iger says is "here to stay." Disney's Iger said company spend would reflect the shift. "As you look at our strategy, you’d see a blend of investment and some reallocation of investment from the console side to basically this multifaceted side [social games]," he said.