Jason Avent joins QA studio Six Peaks Games as founder and non-executive director

• Six Peaks is a QA service studio based in South Africa.
• The studio’s portfolio spans PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, mobile and multiple genres.
• Avent’s move follows the closure of Hardball Games earlier this year.

Former TT Games studio head and Boss Alien MD Jason Avent has joined QA service studio Six Peaks Games as founder and non-executive director.

The company was founded in 2022 and led by CEO Jason Ried. It initially worked alongside Avent's former studio Hardball Games on its debut title OutRage.

Six Peaks said while Avent "has always been in the background" at the firm, he'll be stepping into a more active role in 2026.

Based in South Africa, the studio has worked across multiple genres, platforms and audiences, with clients such as Gameloft, Playtonic, Thunderful, Humble Games and more.

Its portfolio spans PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and mobile, covering action adventure, life sim, cozy, narrative, strategy, platformer and both single player and multiplayer experiences.

Six Peaks specialises in embedded QA teams that integrate with developers and can scale from small groups to larger units for projects ready for testing.

Track record 

Avent's move comes after the closure of Hardball Games earlier this year, just over three years after founding the studio with fellow Boss Alien veteran Chris Bowles and TT Odyssey technical director Julian Adams. 

Hardball had raised $5.2m in seed funding in 2023 and was developing the 16-player party brawler OutRage: Fight Fest, which launched on Steam last year.

Avent said the team originally aimed to secure additional financing to take the game free to play and release it across platforms, but the funding climate deteriorated through 2023, and investor conversations dried up.