Neversoft branches out

Tony Hawk developer Neversoft plans to expand its 50 plus workforce into two teams this year. One team will focus on the lucrative Tony Hawk franchise (now in its sixth incarnation), but according to a jobs posting on its website, Neversoft has "some other ideas" that it wants to bring to life.

With this in mind, the developer is after programmers (including PS2 and PC engine programmers), online gaming specialists, artists, level designers, testers and even a producer for its new product. As the "Who are we?" blurb states, when Neversoft dreams up a new project, it "thinks franchise", so new additions can probably expect a recurring gig for the next few years if they can cope with the 9am-to-whenever work days and weekends off.

However until Neversoft has a team in place and a decent view of where it's going with its new venture, we're unlikely to hear anything more. Its next big announcement is expected to be the official unveiling of the sixth Tony Hawk game, potentially "THUG 2", at this year's E3 trade show in May. The game is due out by late October this year according to publisher Activision's last financial report.

Still, it's good to hear that Neversoft is branching out again. When it developed Spider-Man for the PlayStation back in 2000, it proved surprisingly entertaining, and remains the best Spider-Man game to date. If we're dealing with another Spider-Man and not another Apocalypse, then this is indeed good news...