Rag Doll Kung Fu Developer Forms New Studio

Lionhead Studios alumnus and Rag Doll Kung Fu creator Mark Healy has confirmed that he has formed a new studio in the UK named Media Molecule. The studio, which currently has a placeholder website with the company's logo in place, presently employs ten people, two of which – Alex Evans and David Smith – are also ex-Lionhead employees, with a combined CV that includes games such as Dungeon Keeper, Black & White and Fable. Healy left Lionhead in December last year following the success of Rag Doll Kung Fu via Valve’s Steam digital distribution service and before the recent purchase of Lionhead by Microsoft Game Studios. As quoted by website Next-Gen.Biz, Healy commented: “We don't want to shout too loudly yet about what we are doing - we all feel it's better to let the game speak for itself, rather than convince people it's the most amazing thing ever before it's even made.” This quip could be seen to be a reference to Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux’s reputation for announcing features for forthcoming games that do not necessarily make it into the final product. The new studio is apparently working on a prototype for a new, unnamed, next generation game, with work having got underway over three months ago. More information on both Media Molecule and its project is likely to be revealed over the next few months.