NCsoft Corporation (Lineage, Guild Wars), has announced the formation of Carbine Studios, a new Aliso Viejo, CA-based studio in its online game development family, and adds that Carbine is currently working on an unannounced MMO project. The studio is comprised of 17 former Blizzard employees including lead and senior developers from the World of Warcraft team. Carbine’s vice president of design, Kevin Beardslee, was a lead developer on WoW, while Tim Cain, Carbine’s programming director, was the producer, lead programmer and designer on Fallout, in addition to co-founding the now-defunct Troika Games (Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines). Carbine executive producer Jeremy Gaffney previously worked as executive producer on NCsoft’s City of Heroes, and established the product development group at NCsoft’s Austin headquarters as VP of development. He was also a co-founder of Turbine, where he spearheaded development on Asheron’s Call. “This is a dev team made in heaven,” said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft’s North American business. “This group is as experienced as they come in the area of computer role playing and multiplayer game design. Making successful games is second nature to them. They are a very welcome addition to the NCsoft family. The gaming community should be excited to see what great things come out of Carbine Studios in the coming years.”