Carbine Studios Acquired by NCsoft

NCsoft sent out a press release this morning announcing that they have acquired Carbine Studios, the studio founded by former World of Warcraft developers Kevin Beardslee, Jason Hayes, and Matt Mocarski. Additionally, this is the company where Fallout lead programmer and Troika Games co-founder Tim Cain currently resides as programming director:
Carbine Studios Becomes Latest Member of NCsoft Family

Development team located in Orange County, California has tradition-rich pedigree with ties to successful World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Fallout games

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NCsoft® Corporation (KRX:036570.KS), the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today formally unveiled Carbine Studios™ (www.carbinestudios.com), the latest member of its growing family of online game development studios. Carbine Studios is located in Aliso Viejo, California, in Orange County.

Carbine Studios is currently working on an unannounced project that promises to break new ground in massively multiplayer gaming. The studio, comprised of 17 former Blizzard employees including lead and senior developers from the World of Warcraft team, is led by industry veterans Kevin Beardslee, Tim Cain and Jeremy Gaffney. Kevin Beardslee, Carbine's vice president of design, was a lead developer on Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft. Tim Cain, Carbine's programming director, was the producer, lead programmer and designer on the award winning Fallout, and co-founder of Troika Games. Carbine's Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney previously worked as executive producer on NCsoft's City of Heroes®, and established the product development group at NCsoft's Austin headquarters as VP of development. He was also a co-founder of Turbine, Inc., where he spearheaded development on Asheron's Call.

(This is a dev team made in heaven,) said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft's North American business. (This group is as experienced as they come in the area of computer role playing and multiplayer game design. Making successful games is second nature to them. They are a very welcome addition to the NCsoft family. The gaming community should be excited to see what great things come out of Carbine Studios in the coming years.)

(NCSoft's established global infrastructure, commitment to their development studios and passion for online gaming makes them an ideal partner,) says Carbine co-founder Kevin Beardslee. (In the coming months Carbine Studios will continue to grow and we look forward to bringing many more talented industry professionals into our fold.)

For more information on Carbine Studios and its job openings, go to http://www.carbinestudios.com.

About NCsoft Corporation

NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its franchises, which include Lineage®/Lineage II, City of Heroes®/City of Villains®, Guild Wars®/Guild Wars Factions™/Guild Wars Nightfall™ and Dungeon Runners™. More information about NCsoft can be found at www.plaync.com.

NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, Carbine Studios, PlayNC, Lineage, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Dungeon Runners and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. City of Heroes, City of Villains and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation and Cryptic Studios, Inc. Cryptic Studios is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.