Former Relentless devs open Wish Studios, prototyping new Sony IP

A group of developers from the UK's Relentless Software (makers of the Buzz! franchise and the Blue Toad Murder Files) has splintered off to form a new company called Wish Studios. The developers are already hard at work on a new IP for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Relentless veterans Caspar Field, Paul Brooke, and Tom Bennett joined together to become Wish's respective CEO, CTO and CCO back in July, and are steadily working on the prototype for Sony.

The team hasn't announced anything about what the prototype is just yet, except to say that it's "playing beautifully and has enormous potential." Field, Brooke, and Bennett have plenty of experience with downloadable titles and games for Sony's EyeToy peripheral, so perhaps that's a clue. Whenever they want to tell us what the project is, we'll be listening.

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Announcing Wish Studios!

Brighton Start-Up Signs Deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Wish Studios, a new game development studio based in Brighton, UK, today formally announced that it has opened for business, and has signed a deal to create a prototype for a brand new IP for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Wish Studios was founded in July 2012 by Caspar Field (Chief Executive Officer), Tom Bennett (Chief Creative Officer), and Paul Brooke (Chief Technology Officer). Wish develops games and apps for console and mobile platforms, and is committed to bringing brilliant, original, creative titles to the marketplace. The team has a strong heritage in family social gaming and developing titles that use augmented reality and motion control, and this is something they are keen to further focus on at Wish.

Field explains the company's vision: "At Wish we put ideas first. Every part of our business, from the way we work as a team, to how the studio is structured, is focused on bringing great creative ideas to life. We believe that platforms and monetization models support great games, not the other way around. We love games, as both players and creators, and that passion is reflected in our work."

On working with SCEE, Field states: "We are incredibly excited to be working with SCEE on the development of this prototype. While we can't give away any details about the project, we can say that it's playing beautifully and has enormous potential. Sony continues to show vision and leadership in bringing original, innovative ideas to gamers, a commitment we share at Wish Studios."

Mick Hocking, Vice President at SCEE, states: "At SCEE we love working with creative start-ups like Wish that are passionate about games and hungry to innovate. The guys at Wish are very talented and we look forward to a fruitful relationship together."

Prior to founding Wish, Caspar, Tom and Paul worked at Relentless Software Ltd on the development of blockbuster titles such as Buzz!TM: Quiz TV and Buzz!TM: Quiz World for SCEE, and most recently Kinect Nat Geo TV for Microsoft Studios. Tom also previously worked at SCEE as a key creative on EyePet and EyeToy: Kinetic.

About Wish Studios
Wish Studios is an independent videogame developer based in Brighton, UK. Founded in July 2012 by Caspar Field, Paul Brooke and Tom Bennett, Wish creates innovative content for TV-connected and mobile platforms. The team's rich experience of contemporary gaming concepts, features and platforms enables Wish to think differently about projects, from concept to delivery. Wish is a great partner; responsive, strongly innovative, and experienced in working with a wide array of technologies.

About Caspar Field, CEO
Caspar's 16-year career has touched three corners of the industry: development, publishing and the media. He started out writing for Edge in the 90s where he quickly rose to become Deputy Editor, and then in 2000 took the leap into game development as a Producer at Argonaut Games in London. After leading work on projects for Take 2, Namco, Lego and EA, Caspar moved to a publishing production role at SCi Eidos, where he oversaw the Conflict franchise. He moved to Relentless Software in Brighton in 2007 to head up development of Sony's award-winning Buzz!TM franchise. His final role at Relentless was as Executive Producer on the team that created the recently-released Kinect Nat Geo TV for Microsoft Studios.

About Paul Brooke, CTO
Paul has worked at Mindscape, Bullfrog Productions, EA, Computer Artworks, and was a founding member of Relentless Software. With 17 years of game industry programming experience, alongside a decade of technical leadership and management experience, Paul excels at building and running programming teams that deliver milestones on time and on budget, and ship games with excellent review scores. Paul has delivered 15 AAA titles from concept to ship on PC and console, including several award-winning multi-title franchises. One of his final projects at Relentless was to set up the Digital Mobile team, leading it to ship the company's first iOS title.

About Tom Bennett, CCO
Tom's extensive design experience began on projects for Wide Games and Computer Artworks for publishers including Codemasters and Atari. In the run-up to the PlayStation3 launch, he joined Sony London Studio's casual and social gaming group, where his first title was the acclaimed EyeToy: Kinetic. He became a Lead Designer in the Studio's concept team, nurturing two major titles to production greenlight: EyePet and Wonderbook. After moving to Relentless in 2009, Tom became Lead Designer on the PlayStation Move-controlled Buzz!TM: The Ultimate Music Quiz. He then led the design team crafting a brand-new augmented reality, interactive TV experience for Microsoft Studios: Kinect Nat Geo TV.