Microsoft has opened up a new development studio called Lift London. The focus of the studio will be to create new intellectual property for cloud development, specifically TVs and mobile devices. It certainly seems that Microsoft has a backup plan if consoles go the way of the dodo.
What's particularly interesting is that Microsoft hired industry vet Lee Schuneman to run the studio. Schueman is an ex-Rare developer, having worked there for 16 years on games like Diddy Kong Racing and Kinect Sports. Reportedly he has already hired a sizable team to help him.
On the Lift London studio, Schuneman gave a little insight into what he's aiming for.
"Of course, we're still going to see the blockbuster games, the Halos, the Call of Dutys. They're not going to disappear anytime soon. But for the larger networked majority of gamers we plan to use a much more nimble, streamlined development cycle.
"The studio's mission is to be bold and brave and to lift the reach of the Xbox service beyond the console. If you look at the size of the tablet market today, it's measured in the hundreds of millions, and that's the area where we aspire to be."
At the same time, Microsoft has also announced that Lionhead Studios is now under Scott Henson's control. Henson had been running Rare up until recently, while prior boss Mark Webley has moved on "very amicably".
The current boss of Rare, Craig Duncan has actually been running Rare for months, but Microsoft only now just announced the moves.
As it stands now, in Europe Microsoft has Rare, Lionhead, Soho Productions, Press Play, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and now Lift London.
Microsoft is said to be trying to extend their reach of developer relationships across the UK and Europe. Lift London has, as a result has partnered with an indie studio to begin creating the new Microsoft exclusive IPs that will be present on cloud enabled devices. Only time will tell if Microsoft's bids to stay relevant in the world of gaming pay off.
Source: Eurogamer