FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GAME INDUSTRY VETERANS LAUNCH SKYLAB ENTERTAINMENT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
Studio Heads Include Co-founders of Ritual Entertainment and Gathering of
Developers
AUSTIN, TEXAS, March 3, 2003 -- Today a team of game industry veterans
announced the launch of Skylab Entertainment, a new game development studio in
Austin, Texas. Skylab's founders include original team members from game
developer Ritual Entertainment and publisher Gathering of Developers. Skylab
Entertainment is dedicated to developing the next generation of interactive
entertainment for tomorrow's gaming systems, and is hard at work on their first,
unannounced title.
"We formed Skylab Entertainment specifically to create a new breed of
games. We're combining strong characters and immense game worlds with cutting
edge technologies for entirely new styles of gameplay," said Michael Hadwin,
Skylab's CEO and Creative Director. "We’re looking forward to rocketing
the industry into new and exciting directions."
Hadwin co-founded AAA game developer Ritual Entertainment in 1996 and, during
his tenure as Vice President and Art Director, was responsible for building
Ritual's award-winning art team, contributing to the popular first-person
shooters Quake Mission Pack #1 and SiN, and third person shooter Heavy Metal:
FAKK 2. Prior to Ritual Entertainment, Michael worked at 3D Realms Entertainment
where he played a key role in the development of Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow
Warrior.
Serving as President and General Manager of Skylab's Austin studio is Rick
Stults, himself a proven veteran of the game industry. In 1998 Stults co-founded
Gathering of Developers, which published hit games Max Payne, Mafia, and Serious
Sam. Rick served as Gathering's Chief Financial Officer until its acquisition by
Take 2 Interactive (TTWO) in 2000. After Gathering became a Take 2 subsidiary,
Stults served as Vice President of Operations, overseeing the day-to-day
workings of the Gathering's Austin offices.
"It's an exciting time in the world of game development, and we've built
a foundation here at Skylab to deliver compelling entertainment for years to
come," said Stults. "We’ve assembled an all-star team with a long
history of award-winning game titles. I'm very excited to be launching Skylab
with this powerhouse of talent."
Providing technological leadership for Skylab Entertainment is Chief
Technology Officer Patrick Curry, who most recently served as Vice President of
Server Development for mobile game developer Team Smarty Pants. At TSP Curry led
the development of their mobile gaming platform and their flagship game,
GridBloc, which allows players on different devices, including PCs, cell phones
and PDAs, to connect and play against each other. Prior to TSP, Curry co-founded
online education company Powered in 1999, and founded Internet development firm
ZFI in 1994, which was acquired by frog design in 1997.
"Today the line between the online and offline gaming markets is fairly
blurred because nearly all games tap into the Internet for additional content,
community or multiplayer capabilities," Curry said. "We at Skylab are
dedicated to completely obliterating that line."
Skylab Entertainment will be attending the Game Developer Conference in San
Jose, California March 5th through 8th.
For more information on Skylab Entertainment visit: http://www.skylabgames.com/