Former ‘World Of Warcraft’ dev, Chris Kaleiki, announces new game studio

Former World Of Warcraft game designer, Chris Kaleiki, has announced that he has started his own studio called Notorious Studios.

• READ MORE: Sexual harassment claims, lawsuits, and several high profile departures – what’s going on with Activision Blizzard?

Earlier this week (October 25), Chris Kaleiki took to Twitter to share the news that he has created his own game studio Notorious Studios – established with other former developers of World Of Warcraft – focused on building the next role-playing game.

“Deciding to leave Blizzard was one of the hardest decisions of my life, ” Kaleiki said on his Twitter thread. “When looking at what to do next, I knew I wanted to do something with a smaller team (for a change) and join a team with similar cultural values that I was raised on at Blizzard. Values like putting gameplay (the player experience) first. I knew this would be a high bar.”

Kaleiki went on to say he and other colleagues at Blizzard decided to set out together and start their own studio with investors such as Riot Games, the developer of League Of Legends, 1UpFund, and Galaxy Interactive.

It's Time for a New Beginning. Announcing 'Notorious Studios' – a new video game studio start-up established by former developers of World of Warcraft. Now hiring. https://t.co/k4fLeD7niVhttps://t.co/sKF9yeAKhK

— Notorious Studios (@notostudios) October 25, 2021

The former game designer revealed that the name “Notorious” was based around the name of his World Of Warcraft guild of over 17 years, saying it was “symbolic of our company mission and belief in the power of games to bring people together”.

Last year, Kaleiki shared a video on his personal YouTube channel explaining why he left Blizzard saying, that he was “unhappy with the state of the game”.

Following the harassment and discrimination lawsuit that was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing against Activision Blizzard in July, the publisher’s CEO Bobby Kotick has shared that he has voluntarily reduced his income until the company meets self-imposed targets.

Kotick is apparently taking $62,500 (£45,500) for this year, saying “To be clear, this is a reduction in my overall compensation, not just my salary. I am asking not to receive any bonuses or be granted any equity during this time”.

In other news, a New World bug is stopping players from earning gold after selling their items while offline.

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