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Ex-Blizzard dev founds mobile game studio
Another ex-Blizzard developer has struck out on his own to co-found a new studio that will develop mobile games. Rich Barham is the co-founder of Octopus 8 Studios, heading up a small team that also includes Chris Cox and Justin Parsler. Octopus 8 Studios is currently working on two mobile games, one of which will be released by the end of 2013. We have no details about either game as of yet. Previously, Barham was the US group manager for Blizzard, the global director of ZeniMax Online Studios and the global director of support for Riot Games. He sees Octopus 8 as an opportunity to create an agile studio that will provide experience to new talent: "Octopus 8 Studios is doing things a different way, and we believe it's the right way -- for games people, and for games."
ZeniMax Online Studios builds new MMO customer support facility
The folks at ZeniMax Online Studios have founded a new support facility in Galway, Ireland with the intent to provide customer service for "players of future massively multiplayer online games." While some of you are probably wondering just who in the heck ZeniMax is, others have no doubt seen the parent company name scrolling by on the startup screens for Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. ZeniMax Media owns not only ZeniMax Online but also Bethesda Softworks and id Software (the brains behind the Doom franchise). ZeniMax Online is headed by Mythic co-founder Matt Firor, and ex-World of Warcraft dev Rich Barham is serving as the director of customer support. Though the studio has yet to make an official game-related announcement, it's clearly laying the foundation for something big.
