Interesting news, three of the old hands at Sidhe have left to found their own firm called Wandering Monster. The game they’re developing is a PC-based MMO. Eek! The gods haven’t struck them down for hubris yet, so I’d say it’s off to a good start. ;-) Very few details are available just yet.
The brass at Sidhe seemed to take it gracefully. After all, damn near everybody in the games industry has some sort of ambition toward starting their own studio.
Much like Origin Systems practically created the game development scene in Austin, Texas, this could be the start of a cluster of Wellington games companies. Origin’s gone now, but its ex-employees have founded Digital Anvil, ION Storm Austin, Destination Games, Titanic, Asylumsoft, Loose Cannon, and the exodus also was heavily involved in Looking Glass and Sony Online Entertainment.