Austin 'critically important' to NCsoft, says David Reid

With the formation of NC West recently announced, industry professionals and interested gamers alike have been trading rumors concerning the NC Austin studio. Sanya Weathers has a lot to say on the subject, and DJ Jester of w00tradio.net devoted a large chunk of his recent podcast to the events and the gossip surrounding them.

Now the President of Publishing for NC West, David Reid, has given an interview with Edge Online. Dismissing speculation as erroneous, he states that 'Austin continues to be a critically important space for NCsoft. The Tabula Rasa team is still there, along with customer service and QA.'

Not only is the Austin studio important, it seems set to grow. Reid explains that with the launch of Aion: Tower of Eternity next year, along with some as yet unannounced projects on behalf of other franchises (a sentence that caused ears to prick up here at Massively) the studio will in fact be growing, 'at a dramatic pace'.

David Reid had recently explained that Dungeon Runners was not being jettisoned. Tabula Rasa fans can also take heart, as there is now even more assurance - from the top this time, as well as the earlier word from the Dev team - that the MMO is currently secure. The team is, as we had reported before, being kept intact, and there is an ongoing promotional campaign of which Richard Garriott's recent appearance on the Colbert Report is but one part.