Gears of War, F.E.A.R. 2 devs start new studio

A group of developers whose cumulative credits include work on Gears of War, F.E.A.R. 2, Condemned 2 and Spec Ops: The Line have announced new indie start-up Strange Games.

The studio's first title is physics-based puzzler Demolicious, due out later this year on iOS and Android. See the trailer below for a closer look.

Strange Games' six-man team traces its roots back to 2001, when they met at the University of Advancing Technology in Arizona.

The group of friends developed the IGF-nominated Dodgeball Source mod, which racked up more than a million downloads, but then went their separate ways after graduation.

A few years later some of them crossed paths again at Monolith Productions while working on the F.E.A.R. and Condemned franchises, and sowed the seeds for what would become Strange Games.

Most of the team are still working full time finishing up AAA projects before, hopefully, focusing on Strange Games 24/7 after Demolicious launches.

"It's all after hours, but it's a lot of hours," explained technical director Ken Mayfield, a Gears of War alumni who is currently working on Take-Two shooter Spec Ops: The Line.

"We do our eight [hours] at one company, then we turn around and do our eight at another. We're hoping we can concentrate on ourselves after this, after we release Demolicious."

"Especially around 2005 time when AAA shooters were starting to boom, everyone wanted to make the biggest, most awesome blockbuster game," he added.

"It's fun up to a point, but the real fun is sitting down with your buddies, making a game that's not all that serious and utilising the knowledge we've picked up from AAA development. Putting those together I think is where the real money is at."

The identities of the other team members are currently being kept under wraps until their AAA work is done and dusted.