Prytania Media has extended its development capabilities with the foundation of two new AAA game studios, Dawon Entertainment and Fang and Claw, in mobile hotspot India, reports Gamesbeat. The new studios join existing developers Crop Circle and Possibility Space as part of the group.
Fang and Claw is led by former Blizzard senior director Jeremy Gaffney, with a founding team including several notable names within the games space. Former WB Games Montreal executive producer Fleur Marty will take the same role at the fledgling studio, former Undead Labs gameplay lead Chris Venturini and CTO Ben Scott will assume the roles of gameplay lead and technical director respectively, and former 343 Industries studio art director Horia Dociu will assume the role of art director.
The developer recently received a $3 million investment from Transcend Fund, and is working on what it calls “the next evolution of fantasy combat sports.”
Dawon Entertainment, meanwhile, is working on games inspired by Indian culture including folklore, art, and music. The studio is led by studio head Whitney Beltrán, following her role as project narrative director at Hidden Path Entertainment.
A growing market
At present, it’s unclear which platforms these new studios will be working on. While AAA has traditionally been more dominant on console and PC, in recent years the increasing profile of mobile games has led to the platform attracting some of the best and brightest minds in game development, and creating more and more high-profile games as more and more players take advantage of the accessibility of mobile gaming.
India is an established mobile superpower, and one of the fastest growing players in the space. As such, mobile is likely to feature as a centrepiece in the strategies of both studios.
Recently, the Indian government caused confusion in the gaming industry with its decision to impose a new 28% tax on real-money gaming, which was later revealed to exclude mobile games.
