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A new studio has opened in Dundee, founded by a number of Realtime Worlds staff according to media reports.
Called Ruffian, the studios has been founded by a number of developers that worked on Crackdown – RTW’s Develop Award-winning 360-exclusive – including lead designer Billy Thomson.
ScottishGames.biz points to a Flickr group that shows the Ruffian founders surveying their new office.
Gamasutra says that the team includes Xen’s Gary Liddon. Xen had previously worked with RTW on Crackdown in a number of capacities. Liddon is a veteran of developers such as Probe, Climax, and Climax Brighton (now known as Black Rock) and is a former games journalist.
When details of Ruffian’s existence first broke, an number of sites claimed the team was working on Crackdown 2, however Realtime Worlds has since moved to dispel such reports.
A statement from studio manager Colin Macdonald forwarded to Develop reads: "Regarding the rumoured RTW departures, we believe that maybe five or six ex-Realtime Worlds staff have been employed by Ruffian in recent weeks. Whilst we’re always sad to lose any member of the RTW family, fans should rest assured that the vast majority of the Crackdown team remain at RTW, and our 200+ talented individuals are working hard towards APB being one of the biggest launches of 2009, as well as on an unannounced project that will cause quite a stir when unveiled."
