Zoe Mode Announces New San Francisco Studio, 'Exploring New Territory'

UK-headquartered multi-studio independent developer Kuju Entertainment's music and party game-focused Zoe Mode studio is getting a third home in San Francisco, headed up by two former Sony execs. Zoe Mode San Francisco will open its doors on June 1, and SCEE's SingStar vet Sarah Stocker will co-head it with former developer relations veteran Mark Danks. The Zoe Mode division of Kuju, originally started in Brighton and with additional offices in London, has worked with Sony London on EyeToy Play and SingStar, with Konami on Rock Revolution, and with Microsoft and Codemasters on You're in the Movies. It expanded just over a year ago thanks to this influx of new products. Kuju already established a U.S. presence last year in San Francisco with Kuju America. But now that boss John Kavanagh has left the company for Paramount, Zoe Mode GM Ed Daly tells Gamasutra, in comments following the announcement, that "the minimal 'back-office' function we need in the U.S. has moved to the new Zoe Mode office in [San Francisco]." "There is still plenty of opportunity for social games, both new IP and franchises with which we're involved, on all platforms," explains Daly to Gamasutra. "That said, Zoe has spent the last year looking at exploring new territory, to complement our core 'in the room' music and party games - we're interested in the mainstream online social communities, currently on platforms other than games consoles, that present a growth opportunity for social games and Zoe." Kuju claims seven separate studios under its purview, many of them focused on individual game styles or unique facets of development, including House of the Dead: Overkill developer Headstrong Games and PlayStation Network Burn, Zombie Burn team Doublesix. "With the growth of both our Brighton and London studios, we’ve been looking for an opportunity to form a U.S. studio that can build upon our successes in the genre and bring us even closer to our U.S. consumers and West Coast publishing partners," added Daly in an official statement. "We are very aware that we need to be looking to the future rather than relying on the genres currently making up the so-called casual market." [UPDATE: Additional comments from Zoe Mode's Ed Daly added.]