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38 Studios to use NaturalMotion's Morpheme engine
38 Studios, the star-studded development studio working on a mysterious MMO codenamed Copernicus, has announced that it will use an animation engine called Morpheme. Morpheme has also been used in EVE Online and Heavenly Sword. Its creator is a company called NaturalMotion, which also created the related and acclaimed Euphoria engine used in Grand Theft Auto IV and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.Jon Laff, 38 Studios' chief technology officer, was quoted in the press release saying, "Morpheme allows us to create very high-quality character animations quickly, cutting down on a lot of intensive animation design and implementation time." Uh, good! Wouldn't want you to pick middleware that slows you down instead!So for those who are keeping track: Copernicus now uses BigWorld, Unreal Engine 3, and Morpheme. It's got the trifecta!
38 Studios hires another industry vet
The Warcry Network reported this morning that 38 Studios has brought aboard yet another video game veteran in the form of Michael Kosenski, who will be assuming the role of Vice President of Product Development. Kosenski was the former Senior Development Director at Electronic Arts, Los Angeles, where he worked on the Medal of Honor franchise, Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (for the Xbox 360), and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2.38 Studios just keeps on making news and adding to their stable of gaming industry vets as Kosenski is just the latest to join the team. As reported just a few short weeks ago, Jon Laff (former lead engineer at Electronic Arts) was recently hired as the company's CTO. Obviously the triumvirate of Schilling, Mcfarlane and Salvatore know where their talents are and where they aren't. Those three are truly talented, but probably don't know the ins and outs of the gaming industry. Thus, they are surrounding themselves with people who do. What does that mean? They're dead serious about delivering the gaming goods.
More new, veteran blood at 38 Studios
There's a strange sort of parallel between the hiring practices of Curt Schilling's 38 Studios and the team with which he has won two of his three World Series Championships, the Boston Red Sox. While sports fans like myself watch on with some interest as the Red Sox seek out high-priced talent from other teams within the American League, 38 Studios has announced the hiring of their own big gun in the shape of Jon Laff, a former leader engineer over at Electronic Arts.Laff is the latest in a series of high-profile partners at 38 Studios, where ace pitcher Curt Schilling has assembled a team that includes writer R.A. Salvatore and famous comic book artist Todd McFarlane. Laff, who has worked with EA for several projects, including Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Medal of Honor: European Assault, and the as-yet-unreleased Army of Two, will act as Chief Technology Officer for the budding company. Says Laff of his hiring, "With the company's visionaries and industry leaders such as Schilling, McFarlane, Salvatore, and Close at the helm, 38 Studios is laying the groundwork to become the industry's next major innovator. I'm looking forward to being an integral part of 38 Studios and to developing the next generation of online entertainment."Whoever is doing the PR for 38 Studios is sure doing a good job of dribbling out information every couple weeks to keep us interested, without ever really showing any details about their IP. Color me frustrated.
