EA Tiburon bosses ‘quit to form new studio’

An unnamed executive at EA Tiburon has quit the company to form an independent studio nearby, according to reports.

The new studio, named Row Sham Bow, is said to be based just miles away from the EA Tiburon studio. According to a summary report published in the Orlando Business Journal, the studio has around 60 job vacancies.

The Orlando Business Journal did not publicly name the executive heading up Row Sham Bow.

It is likely that Ian Cummings (pictured), EA Tiburon’s Madden NFL creative director, is involved in the deal. He announced on EA’s blog that, after 11 years at the company, “I have decided to seek opportunities elsewhere”.

Row Sham Bow has reportedly taken advantage of local economic development incentives. It has apparently been funded $114,000 from Orlando city officials, and another $570,000 from Florida State.

If true, these incentives would likely have been part of the Qualified Target Industry tax refund program, which gives as much as $3,000 in tax refunds to a company for each new job it create in Florida.

News site GamesIndustry.biz has discovered a LinkedIn page of EA Sports chief technology officer Richard Wifall, which suggests the exec has left the firm to become co-founder and technical fellow at Row Sham Bow.