Splash Damage adds Heavenly Sword duo to staff list

UK-based Splash Damage has added more big names to its staff roster, the firm's announced this morning, taking two of the Heavenly Sword team and another guy from the BioWare's Mass Effect crew.

The outfit announced in July that it had started a major recruitment drive.

The FNGs:

• Dean Calver (Heavenly Sword, Silent Hill 2) as Lead Programmer
• Fabio Bonvicini (Black, Harry Potter) as Animation Technical Director
• Mattias Engström (World in Conflict) as Senior Technical Designer
• Oliver Jauncey (Mass Effect, Timesplitters 2) as Senior Programmer
• Mark Lack (Heavenly Sword) as Senior Environment Artist

The developer's currently working on a large-scale Bethesda project.

Press release after the break.

Splash Damage Explodes with Talent

UK studio named Best Independent Developer at Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008.

15th October 2008. London, England – September 2008 – Talent continues to bang down the doors of Splash Damage , with several highly experienced industry figures joining the studio's senior ranks. This comes hot on the heels of being honoured as Best Independent Studio at the prestigious Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008.

The latest talent joining Splash Damage's senior development team are:

• Dean Calver (Heavenly Sword, Silent Hill 2) as Lead Programmer;
• Fabio Bonvicini (Black, Harry Potter) as Animation Technical Director;
• Mattias Engström (World in Conflict) as Senior Technical Designer;
• Oliver Jauncey (Mass Effect, Timesplitters 2) as Senior Programmer;
• Mark Lack (Heavenly Sword) as Senior Environment Artist;

"Despite the reported industry skills shortage, we're constantly amazed at the quality of candidates applying at Splash Damage," said studio owner Paul Wedgwood. "We're building the best team we've ever had."

"I'm really excited to be starting here," said Dean Calver, previously the Lead Programmer behind Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword. "I had the luxury of taking the time to pick a studio and role that really seemed to fit and this is it."

Mattias Engström, Chief Mission Designer on Massive Entertainment's World in Conflict, added: "Splash Damage is a lovely place to work at, with lots of talented people, all gamers at heart, all passionate about the things they do. It's inspiring."

Splash Damage was recently honoured as Best Independent Studio at the prestigious Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008. Next month, Splash Damage will be attending the Golden Joystick awards ceremony in London, where the studio is up for six of the statuettes, including Best UK Developer.

Splash Damage is currently looking to fill the remainder of open positions in the art, programming, and level design fields. A complete list is available at www.splashdamage.com/jobs.