Foundation 9 Co-Founder Departs, Opens Other Ocean

Foundation 9 has announced that company co-founder Andrew Ayre will be departing and spinning off the studio previously known as Backbone Charlottetown (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night XBLA) into independent developer Other Ocean Interactive. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, with Foundation 9 saying in a statement that they will retain no interest in the Prince Edward Island, Canada studio after the full completion of the departure in June. Ayre will become majority shareholder and CEO of Other Ocean, who most recently completed a conversion of Konami's PlayStation classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade. The studio announced earlier this month that it was developing Xbox Live Arcade remakes of arcade hits Tron and Discs of Tron for Disney Interactive Studios. Other Ocean has said it is also currently developing a number of other titles for both handhelds and digital distribution platforms like Live Arcade. Foundation 9 itself recently laid off a number of staff members from its studio The Collective as development of Dirty Harry moved to a new studio outsde the Foundation 9 companies, following a decision by license holder Warner Brothers. Said Foundation 9 CEO Jon Goldman, "We had great success launching our studio in PEI with tremendous and much-appreciated support from the provincial and federal agencies. However, as F9E's growth strategy has evolved, we have recognized the need to focus on larger studios, both our current ones and potential future additions to the company."