Lord of the Rings Online Dev Gets New Studio, Former Flagship Staff

Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has opened a new west coast studio in Redwood City, CA, to support the expansion of platforms the company supports. Along the way, the studio announced it picked up a few noteworthy recruits from the defunct Flagship Studios, developer of Hellgate: London.

"The new studio will be a vital part of Turbine's corporate vision as it brings new titles to market, expands the platforms it supports and introduces new technologies to expand and grow the communities that are the foundation of online games," reads a press release from Turbine. As all of Turbine's releases to date have been PC games, the "platforms" mentioned could imply that future Turbine titles are headed to consoles.

Among Turbine's personnel acquisitions are creative director Dave Brebik, a Blizzard North alum and former Chief Visionary Officer for Flagship, and Jeff Lind, a technology specialist who will take the role of engineering director. The studio will be headed by Matt McKnight, former CEO of Sniper Studios, whose only release is Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP).

Turbine has a long history of well-received MMO games, starting with Asheron's Call and most recently Lord of the Rings Online.