Curran quits Kuju

Ste Curran has resigned from the Kuju network, after more than five years at the company’s Brighton studio Zoe Mode.

Earlier this year Curran moved from Zoe mode to join the Guildford group DoubleSix – a digital publishing outfit that operates as a Kuju sister company.

Games designer Curran, who broke into development following a successful spell in journalism, now wants to work under his own steam.

“I loved Zoë and her family and had the best time with them,” he said.

“For the first time in five years I’m free to see other people, do other things and it feels like oxygen.”

Zoe Mode, a sub-studio within the Kuju network, recently lost its co-founder and studio head Ed Daly. His replacement, Develop understands, is former senior producer Paul Mottram.

Due to the complaexities of staff reorganisation, a replacement for Curran will not be sought, a Kuju representative told Develop.

Curran is now pursuing consultancy work as well as a new independent project, called Secret Crush.

“Secret Crush, the volunteer project for which I’ve been recruiting over the last six weeks or so, has becomes something bigger than I anticipated,” Curran explained on his personal blog.

“This is a positive thing, obviously: I’ve been amazed by the response and I’m really excited about making it work. That’s going to take time.

“I’m shaping initial ideas with a few of the contributors now and hopefully, as things grow, I’ll be able to involve everyone who wants to be involved. Like the site says, this project isn’t a charity and I’d love for it to make money some day. I am not counting on it. But in order for it to get anywhere at all it needs some immediate love, leadership and dedicated attention so that’s one of the things I’m going to be focussed on for the rest of this year.”