AI lead Rhys Lewis forms Squarehead Studios after years working in the US

Former Rare and Retro dev sets up UK studio

A former employee of Rare and Texas-based developer Retro Studios has open a new studio on his return to the UK.

Rhys Lewis previously served as AI lead at Retro but now works as a one-man team at the newly-formed Squarehead Studios. 

Lewis is already putting the finishing touches on his first title, retro shooter Star Drift, which will be released on iOS next month.

Before working at Retro, Lewis also worked at Rare, Confounding Factor and 3D Realms. Throughout his career, he has helped develop, Banjo-Kazooie, Duke Nukem Forever, Metroid Prime 3 and both Donkey Kong Country Returns titles.

"Just over a year ago, I made the difficult decision to leave Retro Studios behind and return home to the UK," he told Develop.

"I established Squarehead Studios soon after and since then, I’ve been hard at work on our first title, Star Drift."

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