Ruffian has announced that its group of experienced developers will be joined by both‭ ‬Ed Campbell and‭ ‬Steve Iannetta.

Campbell‭ – ‬who has over two decades of‭ ‬experience in the games industry‭ – ‬has been appointed as the studio’s senior designer.‭ ‬Recently he had fulfilled his role as mission‭ ‬designer‭ ‬for Realtime Worlds' Crackdown.‭

“There’s a lot of talented,‭ ‬experienced guys here and that,‭ ‬coupled with a real knowledge and love of games,‭ ‬is what makes this an exciting team to be a part of,‭” ‬he says.‭

Iannetta too has much experience in the industry,‭ ‬beginning his career in‭ ‬1996‭ ‬with‭ ‬VIS entertainment.‭ ‬He was fairly recently workinn as lead world designer on‭ ‬Midway’s Wheelman,‭ ‬and worked closely with‭ ‬Campbell as Crackdown’s senior level and‭ ‬mission‭ ‬designer.‭

“Given the abundance of talent,‭ ‬the chance to work with old friends on a ground-breaking project and to be back in my beloved home town of‭ ‬Dundee,‭ ‬being a part of the Ruffian team is easily the most exciting opportunity I have ever been presented with,‭” ‬he says.‭ ‬

The two additional appointments means that at least sixteen members of the Ruffian team had worked on the development of Crackdown,‭ ‬with Billy Thomson as the game’s lead designer,‭ ‬Barry Cairns and‭ ‬David Hynd as gameplay‭ ‬programmers,‭ ‬environmental artists‭ ‬Stuart Campbell and‭ ‬Paul‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Simms,‭ ‬character artist‭ ‬Paul Simms,‭ ‬as well as gameplay‭ & ‬AI Lead Mike Enoch.‭

Along with this group,‭ ‬a number of members of the former Xen team had contributed to Crackdown’s development,‭ ‬starting with the Ruffian head Gaz Liddon,‭ ‬as well as Gareth Noyce,‭ ‬Neil Duffield,‭ ‬James Cope,‭ ‬Chris Gottgetreu and‭ ‬Will Sykes.

No one from Ruffian has ever suggested that the studio is working on a Crackdown game,‭ ‬and these two new appointments only explicitly show how well the Crackdown team had got on.‭ ‬Realtime Worlds itself implied to‭ ‬VG247‭ ‬that it should be considered as the most likely developer working on the sequel.‭

Edge’s interview with Crackdown Lead Designer Billy Thomson can be found‭ ‬here.