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Former Epic and Blizzard devs form Lightforge Games studio

Lightforge Games features veteran talent from games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Fortnite, and more.
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
2

With Blizzard having shed a lot of key talent in recent years due to layoffs and other leavings at the company, a lot of major players have moved into either other major studios, or formed studios of their own. We’ve seen a couple major groups spring up already, but another was just formed from former veterans of Blizzard Entertainment, Epic Games, and more. Lightforge Games has opened its doors as a new studio set to specialize in RPGs and has apparently started on a cross-platform “social videogame.”

Lightforge Games officially came into being just recently, having announced its opening late last week with a new website. The company’s key staff features veteran devs including UI director Matt Schembari from Epic, project manager and producer Nathan Fairbanks from Epic and ZeniMax, former Blizzard content and game designer Bridget Collins, former Blizzard art director Glenn Rane, and former Blizzard and Epic brand manager and marketing director Marc Hutcheson, just to name a few. The team’s credits include work on Overwatch, Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Diablo 4, and The Elder Scrolls Online, just to name a few.

According to Lightforge’s website, the team is also already focused in on a project.

“The team is developing a new cross-platform, social video game where players have the power to create worlds and tell stories with unprecedented freedom,” the studio announcement claims.

Moreover, a core tenant of the studio is that it is an entirely all-remote studio which favors employee comfort and personal situations as staff delivery their work. In this way, Lightforge acts similar to models such as Tripwire’s recently announced choice-driven work model that allows on-site, remote, or hybrid work.

Lightforge Games joins a couple further ex-Blizzard studios and publishers that have come to life over the past year, including Dreamhaven, headed up by former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime, and Frost Giant Studios, which is comprised of further former Blizzard talent continuing a effort in real-time strategy games. With Lightforge bringing further talent together in another new setting, it will be interesting to see what it’s got up its sleeve. As we await the fruits of all of these new studios and publishers, stay tuned for further news and updates here at Shacknews.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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