Bethesda establishes new studio with former Rune developers

Bethesda Softworks has created a new studio – Roundhouse Studios – comprised of developers who worked on the original Prey, the Rune series, and BioShock Infinite (via DualShockers). 

In 1997, Human Head Studios began with six former Raven Software employees and its debut game was the Viking-themed action-adventure, Rune. It delivered the original Prey title in 2006, then worked on BioShock Infinite and Batman: Arkham Origins, then developed The Quiet Man published by Square Enix. A dinky but dazzling portfolio, and Rune II released for PC only this week, but the developer revealed that it had shut down almost immediately after its launch. No reasons were provided in the press release, but Roundhouse Studios creative director Chris Rhinehardt stated it was a ‘devastating’ moment for the passionate and creative team. 

‘We reached out to our friends at Bethesda for help, and they saw the same creativity and passion in our team. With the formation of Roundhouse Studios, Bethesda offered every employee of Human Head a position at the new company, ‘ he continued. ‘We are excited our team will remain together, pursuing the work we love, as part of a company we already know and admire.’

‘While sorry to hear of their challenges as Human Head Studios, we were excited by the opportunity to bring under the Bethesda umbrella this talented, established development team,’  Bethesda senior vice president of development Todd Vaughn said. ‘We are delighted that the entire staff will remain together and is now part of the Bethesda family.’

As Roundhouse Studios, it will join Alpha Dog Games, Tango Gameworks, MachineGames, Arkane Studios, Zenimax Online, Id Software, and Bethesda Game Studios; all also owned by ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. Work on ‘unannounced projects’ will commence and once we know what Roundhouse Studios is rustling up, we’ll keep you in the loop.