Second studio emerges after Relentless layoffs

Another Brighton-based studio has established from staff recently laid off at Buzz developer Relentless.

Phoenix Interactive formed late last month and appears to be a one-man-band. Studio founder Terry Lee told GamesIndustry.biz that he wants to “keep development teams down to a small agile size with minimal overheads”.

Like the UK’s scores of game development start-ups, Phoenix will focus on the mobile games space.

Lee said small and nimble studios “the way to success if you want to produce games for mobile platforms”.

And in what could be interpreted as a parting shot at his former employer, Lee added: “It’s all well and good large studios turning their hand to mobile development, but with all of the staff costs and overheads attached products have to be a sure ‘hit’ otherwise a large amount of money is lost”.

Relentless, which lost Lee as part of a redundancy operation in February, is now focusing work on digital and smartphone platforms.

Lee nevertheless has praised Relentless’ level of support during the layoffs.

“In fact, the reason that I have taken this step in my career is due to the guidance and resources provided by Relentless,” he added.

Phoenix is the second independent outfit to have formed after Relentless issued redundancies. Full Moon, another Brighton start-up, was also established in February.