Freshly formed "social game company" Gravity Bear has unveiled its first title in the form of Facebook RPG "Battle Punks."

Calling to mind studio co-founder Phil Shenk's previous work on Diablo II and Hellgate: London, Battle Punks is billed as "raucous journey where players tromp and battle" through a variety of environments "to win prized weapons, spells, experience and treasure."

Unlike Hellgate and Diablo, it seems that Battle Punks will focus on player-versus-player combat, with players "proving themselves in boisterous combat against millions of other avatars in a bid to become the toughest, scrappiest fighter... Read more

Flagship Studios co-founder Phil Shenk has established a new studio titled Gravity Bear, Shenk confirmed to Shacknews. The former Blizzard developer will serve as CEO of the company.

Best known to gamers as his Diablo 2 doppelganger Shenk the Overseer (pictured left), Shenk held the position of art director on Hellgate London, and worked as a lead artist on Diablo 2 and its expansion Lord of Destruction.

Though Shenk did not detail the studio's makeup or projects, Shacknews has learned that at least one former Flagship staffer has joined the company in a prominent role: Kevin Klemmick, former senior software engineer on Hellgate London, will serve as Gravity Bear's technical director.

Shenk joins the long list of former Flagship developers that have recently moved on to new ventures. Flagship co-founder Max Schaefer and others formed Runic Games in August, and ex-Flagshippers Dave Brebik and Jeff Lind joined Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine in October. Cryptic Studios announced last month that former Flagship CEO Bill Roper was joining its ranks.