Sammy's US studio saved from closure
A management buyout has saved Sammy Studios, Inc. from closure. Now known as High Moon Studios, it retains all staff and projects including Darkwatch.
A new independent game developer has emerged in California this week after a management buyout of Sammy Studios, Inc., subsidiary to Japanese firm Sammy Corporation, saved the company from closure.
Sammy had been planning to close down its North American development interests ahead of its forthcoming merger with SEGA, but this week the studio announced that a private investment group headed by president and COO John Rowe had purchased all the shares as well as rights to original properties being developed there including forthcoming console title Darkwatch.
The studio has changed its name to High Moon Studios, Inc., but otherwise remains much the same, still headed by Rowe with the same management team and still headquartered in Carlsbad, California, where more than 100 staff are busy working on current and next-generation console titles.
"Sammy's decision to discontinue game development in North America has afforded us the rare opportunity to establish an independent studio built on existing capabilities and resources," Rowe said in a statement. "High Moon is our new identity, yet our creative and technical capabilities, our talented development teams and the phenomenal resources at our disposal are unchanged."