Jagex swoops in to find jobs for 19 Eurocom devs

Jagex has hired 19 former Eurocom staff who lost their jobs in the wake of the developer’s collapse.

The new recruits at the RuneScape outfit come from an array of disciplines including in technology, design, art, animation and production, and will now be working on upcoming MMO Transformers Universe.

The hires from Eurocom include new head of Transformers Universe Technologies Chris Coupe, producer Mike Robinson, senior designer Adam Smart and new senior programmer Martin Gibbins.

“We were able to find new careers here at Jagex for no less than 19 former Eurocom staff; across technology, design, art, animation and production,” Jagex talent acquisition manager Peter Lovell told Develop.

“All have joined the exciting Transformers Universe MMO project and have relocated to our Cambridge HQ. The news of further UK studio closures is always devastating to hear, especially so over the Christmas period. We are very pleased and proud to have been able to help find positions for these guys so quickly within our organisation.

“Our decision to move quickly on this and find new careers for the former Eurocom staff was made easier due to a successful track record of talent influxes following the closures of Real Time Worlds, Bizarre Creations and others.”

Derbyshire-based studio Eurocom closed its doors in December shedding around 200 jobs in the process amid financial pressure after what it claimed was a steep decline in the sales of console and PC games and a “severe contraction" in the number of titles being commissioned by publishers.

The studio, which was founded in 1988, developed dozens of titles throughout its history including the likes of 007 Legends, Goldeneye 007, Disney Universe and Dead Space: Extraction.