Playground Games hires developers from BioWare, Ninja Theory and Guerrilla Games to work on upcoming RPG

Forza Horizon creator Playground Games has hired a range of developers from a number of acclaimed triple-A studios, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The latest recruits come from popular game makers such as BioWare, Ninja Theory, Guerrilla Games and EA Motive Studios, founded by Jade Raymond in 2015.

The new hires will be working on the UK-based developer’s secretive upcoming open world RPG in Playground Games’ second studio in Leamington Spa.

Among the new members of the Playground team is Noel Lukasewich, who has joined as the lead environment artist for the upcoming game. Lukasewich was with BioWare for 13 years, where he was involved in all four of the Mass Effect titles, including a number of DLC additions to the original trilogy.

Also joining are Scotty Brown as the new principal environment artist, Martin Lancaster as the narrative director, Chris Goodall as the principal animator, Rob den Dekker is joining the QA team, while lead UI artist Joe McKernan is returning to Playground Games after a four year absense.

This is just the latest wave of hires from well regarded studios, Playground Games having already hired talent who worked triple-A games such as GTA V, Metal Gear Solid and Hellblade, GamesIndustry.biz revealed back in November 2017.

“I’m really pleased with the quality of the team we’re building here at Playground," said studio director Gavin Raeburn, speaking to GI.biz, "We continue to attract world-class talent from around the world thanks to our exciting projects and the passion of our team. It’s been a fantastic start for our second studio and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow over the coming months.”

Little is known about the as-yet unnamed open world RPG, but the developer has been undergoing a huge recruitment campaign since opening its second studio.