Ex-Studio Liverpool veterans form Sawfly

Four ex-Sony Studio Liverpool developers have formed a new studio in the city.

The new developer consists of principle designers Mike Humphrey and Karl Jones, lead programmer Andrew Jones and veteran artist Jon Eggelto from Sony’s now defunct studio.

Sawfly is currently developing and pitching its own IP for multiple platforms including mobile and console.

The studio’s first title, developed for local indie publisher RipStone, will be released on smartphone, tablets and “possibly even a handheld console or too”, and is expected to be announced soon.

“As soon as news went out about the studio closure we were all approached by large developers regarding new jobs,” said Sawfly MD Mike Humphrey.

“To be honest, our first instinct was to take positions with those relatively secure companies. However, the more we thought about it the more we realised that we had something more to contribute to the games industry.

"We knew that the only way to make our own games, exactly the way we wanted to make them, was to start our own studio. At Sawfly we want to create amazing and memorable gameplay experiences under our own terms, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Sawfly is currently based in Liverpool at the offices of game production service outfit Catalyst, and has plans to grow the team slowly over the next few years.