Former employees of Big Huge Games, the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning studio that shut down earlier this year, have found a new home. They've created a new company called Impossible Studios that will be owned by Epic Games.
Impossible Studios will develop Infinity Blade: Dungeons, the third entry in the iOS RPG series. They'll be collaborating with Epic Games's North Carolina office, as well as ChAIR Entertainment in Salt Lake City. The announcement says that development will take place primarily at Impossible's office, though.
Big Huge Games, also known for the Rise of Nations series, closed in May. The developer was owned by 38 Studios, the company founded by former baseball star Curt Schilling. Reckoning, though well-reviewed, didn't sell enough to keep 38 Studios from bankruptcy and that company's failure doomed Big Huge as well.
Epic Games was contacted by Big Huge's former leadership shortly after the studio's closure. The two groups then began discussing the formation of a new company. For a time, Impossible was nicknamed "Epic Baltimore."
"We were so glad we could help keep this great team together, and we’re lucky to have them,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. “At the time, I said that finding a full team of superstars was ‘impossible’ and apparently the name stuck! Pairing the imagination and experience of Impossible with Epic’s technology, IP and resources makes for a business greater than the sum of its parts."
While being forced to create a new company from scratch couldn't have been fun, there's one upside: Impossible Studios' logo is way better than Big Huge's. It's a grizzly bear with massive wings and a unicorn horn. Truly a majestic beast.
Infinity Blade: Dungeons will arrive later this year. Ian Frazier, lead designer at Impossible, will appear at a Dungeons panel at Dragon*Con on August 31st with Capps and writer Brandon Sanderson.
