Kuju confirms Nik Nak studio merger

Kuju co-founder Ian Baverstock has clarified the situation surrounding Nik Nak, the firm’s Kids-games studio that fell off the radar.

Baverstock revealed that Nik Nak – a standalone studio once located near Kuju’s Guildford base – had its projects and staff integrated with the firm’s Guilford outfit.

The developer was rebranded ‘Zoe Mode Guildford’, while an undisclosed number of people then moved on to Zoe Mode’s Brighton studio, he said.

He did not say that the matter had led to any project cancellations.

Nik Nak had originally signed a deal with Codemasters to develop two Wii projects. However, one of those projects – called Dragonology – was remade as a DS title, while Codemasters tells Develop that Wizardology “didn’t go into production in the end”.

The news comes after it was revealed that Kuju’s Manila offices are set to close.

However, Kuju remains a UK development stronghold, with four key – and diverse – development brands that have thrived in a fiercely expanding industry.

On top of its Guildford studio, Zoe Mode boasts offices in Brighton and San Francisco. The high-profile outfit has just released Chime, the melody-based puzzle title released on XBLA.

The Kuju group also owns UK indie studio DoubleSix. And with James Brooksby as studio head, the firm has released two popular digital games. Burn Zombie Burn for the PSN, and South Park Let’s Tower Defense Play for XBLA.