As was rumored, Chicago-based developer Robomodo recently signed a deal with Activision to work on a title that will be published on multiple platforms.

The 45-person studio was founded by four former Midway Games employees and a former EA Chicago employee.

"At Robomodo we are dedicated to 'doing it right', from the way we approach game design and art, to the methods we use to manage our projects," said Josh Tsui, Director of Robomodo. "Our culture is focused on enabling game designers and artists to innovate, while providing them with proper management oversight and technology support. Activision has embraced our vision and agreed to give us a shot with one of their IPs. We are fortunate to be working with the largest publisher worldwide, and we are looking forward to collaborating with their team on one of their upcoming games."

Robomodo Game Development Studio Lands Activision Publishing Deal
Independent Chicago-Based Game Development Studio Creating AAA Game for World's Most Profitable Pure Play Video Game Publisher

Chicago, IL (September 30, 2008) — Robomodo officially launched today as a new game developer dedicated to producing top-tier products for current and next generation console platforms. The company, based in Chicago and formed in January of 2008, has recently entered into a development agreement to work on a title that will be published by Activision Publishing, Inc. on multiple platforms. Robomodo's team has a strong track record for marrying solid game design with an innovative artistic style. This team of 45 is looking to expand over the next year in order to support game development for established series, and eventually for its own IP, for multiple platforms, including PS3, Xbox360, Wii, PC, and handhelds.

Robomodo was founded by five partners - Joshua Tsui (Director), David Michicich (CEO and Creative Director), Nick Ehrlich (COO and Director of Project Management), Peter Sauerbrei (CTO) and Richard Ho (Motion Director). Four of the five partners (Josh, David, Rich, and Nick) first worked together in the early 90's at Midway Games on titles that included the Mortal Kombat series. Josh, David, and Peter went on to work at EA Chicago in 2005 and started Robomodo upon EA's closure of its Chicago office.

"At Robomodo we are dedicated to 'doing it right', from the way we approach game design and art, to the methods we use to manage our projects," said Josh Tsui, Director of Robomodo. "Our culture is focused on enabling game designers and artists to innovate, while providing them with proper management oversight and technology support. Activision has embraced our vision and agreed to give us a shot with one of their IPs. We are fortunate to be working with the largest publisher worldwide, and we are looking forward to collaborating with their team on one of their upcoming games."

Robomodo's team members have substantial experience working together on building and reinvigorating AAA titles. The company's engineering team is very well versed in creating and working with new technology that exploits the capabilities of current generation console hardware, and the art and design teams have had great success on delivering a fulfilling game play experience.

Tsui, who has 15 years of AAA game production experience, has directed and managed large teams for publishers such as Electronic Arts, Microsoft, THQ and Midway Games. Michicich, a 14-year veteran game developer, served as Mortal Kombat's Art Director and brought his next-gen experience to the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Fight Night Round 3, as the project's Technical Art Director at EA.

Ehrlich has 15 years of project management experience in the industry and helped ship two successful AAA titles for the Microsoft Xbox: Tao Feng, Fist of the Lotus, published by Microsoft Games, and Wrestlemania 21, published by THQ.

Sauerbrei has worked as a senior software engineer for the last 10 years for multiple companies on several AAA titles including, Tao Feng, Wrestlemania XXI, Fight Night Round 3, and Def Jam ICON. During his 13-year game career, Ho has worked with such publishers as Atari Corporation, Midway Games, Microsoft and THQ and garnered great acclaim for the motion work on Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus and Wrestle Mania 21.

Tags: activision blizzard | robomodo