Rumour: Warner Bros restaffing once-defunct studio Surreal

Warner Bros is hiring for its Surreal Developmentdepartment. Yes, that does sound eerily like the studio that supposedly closed down. Curiouser and curiouser.

Superannuation turned up a position vacant ad for a new senior concept artist at "Surreal Development".

The ad calls for leadership on "the project", along with sundry artistic promotional duties.

Surreal Software was once owned by Midway, and was acquired by Warner Bros in July 2010 when the former publisher went bust. Barely a month later, the studio's project This is Vegas had apparently been shelved, and the studio was heavily rumoured to have closed down, with staff reassigned to other studios.

More unconfirmed rumours saw the team surviving as research and development support for other studios, and suffering layoffs in early 2011. If true, it looks like the studio has turned the corner, rejoicing in a new name.

Surreal's credits include two Drakan games, a couple of Lord of the Rings tie-ins, and The Suffering.