Tomb Raider and Spec Ops creators form new studio

The creator of the original Tomb Raider and core members of the Spec Ops and Call of Duty games have formed a new studio.

Tangentlemen is composed of Toby Gard, who designed Tomb Raider, Cory Davis, Rich Smith, John Garcia-Shelton, Brandon Popovich, John Swift and other contributors.

“The rocketing costs of triple-A development led to a creative stagnation in games until the recent explosion of the indie scene,” said co-creative director and lead designer Gard in a statement.

“We have formed Tangentlemen to take some creative risks and trust our belief that there is an audience who want fun experiences that don’t fall comfortably inside predefined marketing boxes.”

Davis added: “Our solutions are not what you’d expect. They’re often weird, or even absurd, with strong gestures that challenge the status quo. Our games are extreme in their thematic, narrative, and mechanical design. I seriously can’t wait to tell you exactly what we’re up to right now.”

The studio’s first project is called Daedalus, and is described as “an existential, surreal horror trip”. The California-based team is currently in the concept phase and aims to have more to announce in the coming months.