NaturalMotion co-founder and CEO Torsten Reil leaves after 15 years

Fifteen years after co-founding UK game-tech-turned-development-studio NaturalMotion, CEO Torsten Reil has left the company on amicable terms to take what’s being described as a “personal break”.

The company was bought by Zynga in a $527 million acquisition in early 2014, abd Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau has praised Reil’s contribution.

“I've enjoyed working with Torsten. He’s a fantastic guy, who built a fantastic company with great IP,” Gibeau stated.

“With the release of CSR Racing 2 and Dawn of Titans, NaturalMotion is in a strong position. We all need a rest and we part friends. We wish him all the best on his next chapter.”

NaturalMotion COO David Byrne will step into the NaturalMotion CEO role in the interim.

Winding road

NaturalMotion was founded in Oxford originally to provide game developers and animation studios with a ‘Motion Capture in a box’ solution.

It expanded into real-time middleware with its Euphoria animation engine, before branching out into games development with Backbreaker Football, which was released on iOS and Android in 2009.

Its mobile success saw NaturalMotion ramp up its game division, releasing titles such as My Horse, NFL Rivals, Icebreaker Hockey and Jenga, before hitting the big time with F2P drag racer CSR Racing in 2011.