Harmonix, Twisted Pixel designer founds new indie, No Goblin

Dan Teasdale will head a new independent development studio, No Goblin, with a debut title expected on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2014.

The Seattle-based No Goblin is described as focusing on "mechanic-focused games with truly original settings and characters".

"We’re founding No Goblin because we want to make games no other studio is making, Teasdale said in a press release. "Our goal is to marry original IP and ‘gameplay first’ design to make truly unique games."

In an introductory post on the studio's website, Teasdale said No Goblin grew up with "the humour of LucasArts adventure games, the couch rivalry of the Nintendo golden era, and the knowledge that gameplay trumps everything".

"Our themes and settings aren’t tired fantasy goblin slaying or sci-fi laser technobabbling, there’s no free to play trickery, and there’s definitely no half-hour .interactive cinematics,'" he added.

Teasdale, who left Twisted Pixel in April, will be joined by mysterious colleague "co-founding artist and designer hybrid Panzer".

The pair's first game is already in the works, and expected on PC and PlayStation 4 in the first half of 2014. No details were provided, except that the game contains no guns, bows, lasers or combination thereof, but information is expected in the next few weeks.

Prior to founding his own team, Teasdale served at Pandemic, where he was one of the designers on Destroy All Humans; at Harmonix, where he was senior designer on the first Rock Band and lead designer on Rock Band 3; and as lead designer at Twisted Pixel, where he produced The Gunstringer. He's also consulted for 2K Games on BioShock and at Sony on Fat Princess.

Thanks, Develop.