Ex-Daybreak CEO John Smedley to head up Pixelmage

Newly-founded studio Pixelmage Games has attracted a veteran of the games industry to lead its course.

John Smedley co-founded Verant Interactive, before it was acquired by Sony in 2000 and combined into Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).

As president of SOE, Smedley oversaw the creation of games such as DC Universe Online, Planetside and H1Z1.

In early February 2015, SOE was itself sold off to investment firm Columbus Nova, rebranding as Daybreak.

Smedley stepped down from his position as CEO of the studio last July, with initial rumours suggesting he would remain within Daybreak, albeit in a different role. This was disproved three months later, when it was revealed he had departed the company completely.

Smedley has joined Pixelmage Games, a studio founded last October. The outlet is currently working on Hero’s Song, an RPG backed by $1 million in investment which Pixelmage hopes to raise another $800,000 towards via Kickstarter.

Smediely isn’t the only big name to join the project – EverQuest co-creator and designer Bill Trost and New York Times best-selling author Patrick Rothfuss are also contributing to the game.

Hero’s Song is due for release in October 2016.