Civilization 4 lead designer starts Mohawk Games
Soren Johnson, best known for being the lead designer on Civilization 4, has founded Mohawk Games through the Stardock Strategic Investment Fund. The founding of the studio was hinted at by Stardock CEO Brad Wardell earlier this year, who will serve as president of the company. Rounding out the trinity of co-founders is Dorian Newcomb, another award-winning alum of the Civilization series, who will act as art director.
"Our goal is to make games that will be played for years, based on elegant, replayable systems that are not limited by finite content creation," said Johnson. "Our development process emphasizes rapid iteration above all else, requiring our games to be playable as soon as possible so that we have time to find the fun."
The Baltimore-based studio is currently recruiting top game industry talent and has begun development on its first game, which will use the Nitrous Engine, created by Oxide Games. Oxide happens to be another studio formed of Civ vets funded by Wardell's Stardock. At least now we know what Wardell did with some of that Impulse sale money.
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For Immediate Release
Soren Johnson Forms Independent Studio: Mohawk Games
- Veteran designer of Civilization IV fame puts gameplay first with new company -
BALTIMORE, MD - NOVEMBER 5, 2013 – Game industry veteran and Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson announces the creation of a new independent studio dedicated to building core strategy games, Mohawk Games. Johnson is joined by co-founder Dorian Newcomb, winner of a prestigious BAFTA award for his work as art director of Civilization V and Brad Wardell, the designer of the Galactic Civilizations series. Johnson will serve as Mohawk's CEO while co-founder Brad Wardell serves as the studio's president, handling day-to-day business operations.
Financed by the Stardock Strategic Investment Fund, Mohawk is currently recruiting top game industry talent for the Baltimore-based studio. The company has already begun development on its first title, codenamed Mars, which runs on Oxide Games' recently announced Nitrous engine.
"Mohawk puts gameplay first," said Soren Johnson. "Our goal is to make games that will be played for years, based on elegant, replayable systems that are not limited by finite content creation. Our development process emphasizes rapid iteration above all else, requiring our games to be playable as soon as possible so that we have time to find the fun."
Johnson espouses Mohawk's core philosophies in the inaugural post (http://mohawkgames.com/2013/11/04/introducing-mowhawk-games/) on the studio's blog, including ongoing community involvement, early access programs, and extensive mod support. "Games cannot grow in a vacuum, without the oxygen of player feedback. Indeed, communities often understand games better than the designers themselves," Johnson writes.
Johnson believes that the time is right to found Mohawk Games. "We are living in the age of the independent game studio - never before have the development tools been so powerful, the distribution channels so accessible, and open development so valuable," he said.
For more information about Mohawk Games, please visit www.mohawkgames.com.
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