Splash Damage nets Mass Effect artist

Splash Damage has announced that four senior developers are to join its team, including one of the main artists from BioWare's Mass Effect.

Joining the company are Olivier Leonardi (Rainbow Six: Vegas, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones) as art director; Chris Sweetman (Black, Burnout: Paradise) as audio director; Tim Appleby (Mass Effect) as lead character artist; and Chris Dawson (Driver, Test Drive, Evil Genius) as producer.

The news comes in the wake of a recently announced partnership with Bethesda.

Press release after the link.

Splash Damage Levels Up

Award-winning developer strengthens development team and

announces presence at Develop 2008

London, England – 22nd July 2008 - Splash Damage, the award-winning independent developer, today announced the hiring of four industry heavyweights to its team. Following the recent announcement of its partnership with Bethesda Softworks®, Splash Damage is planning to double the size of its development team to more than 60 staff as it moves into multi-platform development on an as-yet unannounced title.

The four experienced professionals are:

· Olivier Leonardi (Rainbow Six: Vegas, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones) as Art Director;

· Chris Sweetman (Black, Burnout: Paradise) as Audio Director;

· Tim Appleby (Mass Effect) as Lead Character Artist;

· Chris Dawson (Driver, Test Drive, Evil Genius) as Producer.

“I couldn't be more excited about this influx of amazing talent to Splash Damage, especially as we start developing for multiple platforms,” added Paul Wedgwood, owner of Splash Damage. “Their experience and knowledge are a hugely positive contribution to Splash Damage and will help us further establish Splash Damage as one of the up-and-coming studios in the world.”

"I'm thrilled to be working here at Splash Damage," said Art Director Olivier Leonardi. "These guys treat each game as a unique creative exercise, rather than just going through the motions year after year, and that really impresses me."

Adding to its substantial collection of accolades, Splash Damage has recently been nominated for an impressive six Golden Joystick 2008 awards and two prestigious Develop 2008 Industry Excellence Awards for the creation of its hit PC title, Enemy Territory: QUAKE WarsÔ.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of their partnership with Bethesda Softworks, Splash Damage is actively hiring for several open positions across all major disciplines. An up-to-date listing of all vacancies is available at www.splashdamage.com/jobs.

Splash Damage will also be present at Develop 2008 in Brighton from 29 – 31 July 2008, where both Creative Director, Paul Wedgwood and Audio Director, Chris Sweetman will be taking the stage on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. In addition, the studio will have a recruitment booth in the main hall at C14 near the Develop Bar & Networking Lounge. Interested candidates are encouraged to make an appointment by emailing jobs@splashdamage.com.