Mark Jacobs, co-founder and former CEO of MMOG developer Mythic Entertainment, has formed a new studio, City State Entertainment.
His new venture, which like Mythic is based in Fairfax, Virginia, will focus on mobile and social games. In an interview, Jacobs told Forbes that he was looking forward to operating independently, in stark contrast to Mythic which was acquired by EA in 2006, and to working in the lower-risk social gaming sector.
"I'm tired of strings and being told what to do by other people," he said. "[At City State] we're a very collaborative group where we talk about everything, and that's what you need if you really want to be successful.
"Social games are certainly a lot easier to develop than a traditional game, let alone an MMOG. And because of the faster development cycle and the lower costs, we have a lot more freedom in what we want to do.
"We don't have to worry if the hardcore gamers are going to get incredibly upset because we're doing something a certain way. We don't have to worry if our game is going to sell another 20 copies. We're just looking to make fun, enjoyable games."
Founded by Jacobs and Rob Denton in 1995, Mythic caught EA's eye with its 2001 MMOG Dark Age Of Camelot. It was acquired in 2006 and enjoyed further success with Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning, but Jacobs left the company in 2009 after falling out with senior management. The studio was combined with fellow EA subsidiary BioWare soon after, and was renamed BioWare Mythic last year.
Source: Forbes