Former Mafia Lead And Dragon's Lair Author Form New Studio

A new game development studio has been formed by two industry veterans, including the director and design lead on 2002 release Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The Prague, Czech Republic-based Warhorse Studios was founded by Daniel Vavra (pictured) and Martin Klima. Vavra previously worked on both Mafia and Mafia II, and has over 10 years of experience in the industry. Klima is the author of pen-and-paper RPG Dragon's Lair, and published the UFO trilogy while at his company Altar Interactive. He also worked at Codemasters, where he was part of the development team on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. The duo noted that the average number of copies sold for games that they have worked on is over 1 million. They are joined by Viktor Bocan, who worked with Klima on Operation Flashpoint, and Zbynek Travnicky, an animator who worked on both the Mafia games. The studio revealed that it has secured an investment from private individuals, although no details on this were given. Klima and Vavra have not yet announced their first game, although they have said that it will be an RPG title, and "different in many respects" from their past work. "It is a game that is not going to disappoint fans of open realistic worlds and quality stories," they said. "We are positive we are not making this game only for ourselves, but for you as well."