Trio of Industry Veterans Form Stormcloud Games

[MikeWehner]

Trio of Industry Veterans Form Stormcloud Games

Small teams can create big things, and Stormcloud aims to do just that.

Scotland has a new videogame development studio called Stormcloud [http://www.stormcloudgames.com/team.html], and it boasts a short list of employees with some serious talent. With titles like Minecraft XBLA, Oblivion, and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun under their belts already, the team's new studio is now open for business, and seeking some start-up funding for its first big project.

The three-man team is made up of Frank Arnot, Andy West, and Pat McGovern. Arnot is in charge of production, West will handle coding duties, and McGovern will take care of art. The team has been working together for several years, and has their hands in several releases for Xbox Live Arcade, including ports of Perfect Dark and Banjo-Kazooie.

Scotland's University of Abertay Dundee has already hired the team to develop a new browser-based IP for preteens, though Stormcloud is also setting its sights on mobile platforms and home consoles should the opportunity present itself.

In recent years, smaller studios and independent developers have gained a lot of attention for producing high quality experiences despite having just a fraction of the resources of larger companies. With a trio of veterans at the helm, Stormcloud certainly has the pieces in place to create something great. Now it just needs to do it.

Source: Scottish Games Network [http://scottishgames.net/2012/11/12/stormcloud-games-new-development-studio-created-by-games-veterans/]

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[GoaThief]

So how much did they pay to get this "news" piece published on this website?

 

[Andy Shandy]

Definitely keeping an eye on these guys, even if it is only due to it being hometown pride. Would really like to see them do well. Should try to get Dave Jones as well (the GTA, Lemmings and Crackdown guy)

 

[Vigormortis]

Ah ha! So I have one of these three to blame for the "HD remake" of Perfect Dark.

The obnoxious nature of the game insisting the player log-on to Xbox Live at every turn is probably Microsofts doing. So, I won't hold them to that.

However, things like the annoying menu system, the buggy saves, the tendency for the engine to crash sometimes, and all of the other wonderful "quirks" (like the bot AI being able to run faster than you if you don't look at them), are all squarely on their shoulders.

Harrumph!

. . . . . . . . . .

Still, best of luck to those three. I'm usually all-for supporting a smaller developer, especially if they have "big plans".

Though, if said developers level of pompousness gets too high, I just tend to ignore them.

 

[Saviordd1]

So... XBLA, mobile games and browser games? And their veterancy comes from an XBLA port, the "least-good" Elder Scrolls game and a MoH title?

Very disappointing. All the fucks I was ready to give just disappeared...

Actually

One of the best Elder Scrolls
A difficult to program port none the less
and the best MoH title


Not bad

 

[vxicepickxv]

The potential is there. Now they have to get it in the right spot.

 

[ResonanceSD]

PORTS of Banjo Kazooie and PD?

Where are all the original employees of RareWare?

 

[JEBWrench]

One of the best Elder Scrolls

It's definitely in the top five!

Anyways, what they neglect to mention is that all three worked for Rockstar North at one point or another.

PORTS of Banjo Kazooie and PD?

Where are all the original employees of RareWare?

Two of them are former employees of RareWare during the Banjo Kazooie era.
The original employees (The Stamper Brothers) left in 2007.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Just how veteran are these guys who have worked on games with medium-large to yes-actually-quite-large-indeed-thanks-for-asking sized teams? How much was their input, and how much was them being involved with something significantly bigger than them alone? Pat Mcgovern is surprisingly hard to Google, since there's a major business mogul with the same name, so he eats up results. Was he the guy responsible for the terrible faces in Oblivion? How about it's muddy countryside? Did he do artstuffs in Banjo Kazooie, or was he just hanging around while code was done for the finished iconic Minecraft designs on the port?

Don't get me wrong, these guys sound cool, and have plenty of experience, I'm sure, but I'm not all that impressed by calling them by name from teams like that. Maybe this is a Jonathan Blow thing, and these three guys will blow our minds, or maybe this is a "who the hell are those guys?" kind of thing, answering the latter with "oh, mobile guys who have all worked with plenty of other people to produce fairly big title games, but good luck seeing their particular contribution to said games without asking them".

 

[theultimateend]

So... XBLA, mobile games and browser games? And their veterancy comes from an XBLA port, the "least-good" Elder Scrolls game and a MoH title?

Very disappointing. All the fucks I was ready to give just disappeared...

Actually

One of the best Elder Scrolls
A difficult to program port none the less
and the best MoH title


Not bad

Yeah I more fit with what you said, seemed a bit less hyperbolic.

Or at least it conformed to my biases which I tend to be more open to. Damn psychology!