Kuju Brighton Studio Becomes Zoe Mode

Officials from British developer Kuju have announced that the company has rebranded its Brighton studio as Zoe Mode. The studio was formed in 2003 and is best known for work on casual titles such as EyeToy: Play 3, EyeToy: Play – Sports, SingStar: Rocks, SingStar: Anthems and SingStar: Legends. However, the studios’ first game under the Zoe Mode name will be original PSP title Crush for Sega. Zoe Mode will remain part of Kuju Studios, which will continue to provide corporate support and opportunities to share technology and collaborate with other Kuju studios. The parent company, which is also known for Nintendo franchise Battalion Wars, was acquired by German investment group Catalis in January for £4.4 million ($8.6m). Studio head Ed Daly commented, "This studio has had great success over the last three years, focusing on fresh gaming experiences for new audiences. We've shipped several very successful, high quality titles and grown to 100 staff and now the time is right to rename the studio. We’ve created Zoe Mode; she is the personality that reflects our in-house philosophy of accessible, fun gaming for everyone.” Daly continues, "Zoe allows us to have some fun with the image of the studio, but of course what matters most is the games we make. We have built up a great team, a really diverse crowd for a game developer, and an internal culture that reflects the fun and creative values that come through in our games. By taking control of the public face of the studio we will be able to reinforce this unique identity and specialist expertise further."