Tomb Raider, Call of Duty & Spec Ops devs form new studio Tangentlemen

Tomb Raider creator Tony Gard has assembled Call of Duty and Spec Ops: The Line developers to form new indie studio Tangentlemen. Their first title is codenamed "Daedalus," and has been described as an "existential, surreal horror trip."

GI.biz reports that the California studio is helmed by Gard, who was lead designer on the original Tomb Raider, with the creative director role going to Monolith and TimeGate Studios veteran Cory Davis. He was also creative director on Spec Ops: The Line.

Creative director duties are shared by Toby Gard, who designed the first Tomb Raider and went on to work for Crystal Dynamics, and Cory Davis, who worked at TimeGate Studios and Monolith before taking the role of creative director and lead designer of Yager's Spec Ops: The Line.

They're joined by art director Rick Smith, who was senior artist at Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment along with former Call of Duty and Medal of Honor developer John Garcia-Shelton, who steps into a general manager and head of production role.

The site adds that the key players all worked together on Spark Unlimited's hack-and-slash title Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, before deciding to set up shop.

In a statement, Gard said of the new team's formation, "The rocketing costs of AAA development led to a creative stagnation in games until the recent explosion of the indie scene. We have formed Tangentlemen to take some creative risks and trust our belief that there is an audience who want fun experiences that don't fall comfortably inside predefined marketing boxes."

Davis added, "Our solutions are not what you'd expect. They're often weird, or even absurd, with strong gestures that challenge the status quo. Our games are extreme in their thematic, narrative, and mechanical design. I seriously can't wait to tell you exactly what we're up to right now."