In a new blog post announcing industry veteran Richard Blenkinsop as Managing Director of Ubisoft Reflections and the new Ubisoft Leamington, Ubisoft revealed that Guitar Hero Live and DJ Hero developer FreeStyle Games is now a part of the company:
Richard will also serve as Managing Director for new members of the Ubisoft family joining from FreeStyle Games, previously an Activision studio, located in Leamington Spa. The FreeStyle team is known for their work on the DJ Hero series and last year’s Guitar Hero Live. The studio will be renamed Ubisoft Leamington and will work in close collaboration with Reflections and Ubisoft’s other International studios to develop AAA games.
Commenting on Ubisoft Leamington, Blenkinsop said, “We’re thrilled to have their expertise within the group, and the team at Reflections are looking forward to creating great things together!”
Pauline Langourieux was the former Managing Director at Ubisoft Reflections, but she left at the end of 2016 to pursue a more hands-on production position at the studio.
Blenkinsop’s previous experience in the industry includes working as producer, senior producer, and executive producer on titles like Call of Duty 3, Rome: Total War, and Blur while at Activision and Codemasters. He joined Ubisoft Reflections in 2012 and has worked on The Crew and The Division.
FreeStyle Games’s final title, Guitar Hero Live, launched in 2015 (our review), but failed to meet Activision’s sales targets. In early 2016, the studio was hit with layoffs.
In a statement to Eurogamer, Activision thanked FreeStyle Games “for their many years of creative partnership and wish them well as they begin a new chapter in the studio’s history.” As for Guitar Hero Live, they said, “The Guitar Hero TV platform will continue to be supported by Activision Publishing.”
