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Redundancies and Chillingo deal point to new digital direction for Relentless

20 staff let go as Quiz Climber announced for iPhone

Redundancies and Chillingo deal point to new digital direction for Relentless
It's unlikely Relentless Software would have looked to release news of a new publishing partnership with Chillingo against a backdrop of redundancies.

However, there's undoubtedly a common theme that runs throughout both developments: a shift in direction.

Buzz off

The Brighton based studio – best known for its Buzz series on PlayStation – is pooling its talents to focus on digital releases, one of the first fruits of which will be a social quiz game for iPhone called Quiz Climber.

Published by Chillingo, Relentless executive director and co-founder Andrew Eades says the game is the first step towards a multi-platform future.

"Whether you use a console, connected TV, iPhone or a browser to play, we'll be making games that are easy to understand and fun for you – Quiz Climber is our next step in making our games available to and played by everyone," said Eades.

"We're delighted to make the move into mobile gaming with our partner Chillingo who are the experts in publishing iPhone games as far we we’re concerned."

Relentless redundancies

The announcement follows a report by GamesIndustry.biz revealing Relentless made 20 redundancies around two weeks ago.

Eades hinted that, like Quiz Climber, the move has been made to allow the studio to prioritise digital releases – the mobile market an important part of its plans.

"We have recently restructured the company to work on a variety of different projects and different platforms," he said.

"That has meant some redundancies as we need to match our skillset with the requirements of the projects that we are working on today. We will be recruiting for a number of roles to fulfil the needs of new projects."
Quiz Climber itself will make its press debut at GDC 2011, before hitting the App Store in the spring.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.