Visceral Games’ general manager, Glen Schofield, and COO, Michael Condrey, have reportedly jumped ship to join a new Activision development studio in the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to GameSpot sources, Activision’s intense recruiting process for its as yet unnamed new studio meant the pair's departure had been rumoured for weeks.

EA Redwood Shores, the publisher’s longest running studio, changed its name to Visceral Games in May to reflect “a new set of development principles and game design values,” according to Schofield. The action-focused studio was responsible for Dead Space, and is currently working on Dead Space Extraction and Dante’s Inferno, in addition to two unnamed projects.

Update: EA has confirmed the pair’s departure and also sent us the following statement.

“EA has been nurturing great developers for 27 years and making room for the next generation is an important part of that process. It takes a team to make a great game like Dead Space and there's a stunning array of talent in the Visceral studio - creative leaders who now have the opportunity to step into the spotlight and have their talent recognised.”

Activision has yet to respond to our request for comment.