Gamasutra has an interview with Krome Studios co-founder, Robert Walsh, about the recently announced acquisition of Melbourne House from Atari. A whole range of interesting questions were thrown at Robert, including why and how they purchased the studio, their plans for Krome Studios Melbourne, and how they're handling all this as an independent game developer. It's a very interesting read on what will be regarded as a notable event in Australian game development history...
What kind of position was Melbourne House in, prior to you stepping in, and what motivated the move?
Well, they were owned by Atari, so can you determine what kind of position they were in from that. [Laughs]
I?d been talking to them for quite some time. I had original discussions with them back in March at the Game Developers Conference. Part of it was business, and the other part was emotional. I knew Adam Lanceman, who founded Melbourne House, and passed away a few years ago, and at the end of the day, some of the stories that I was hearing about what might happen to the studio just didn?t sit very well.
It was kind of a personal thing about that studio and being the cornerstone of the Australian industry, and not keeping it as a studio just didn?t seem right. I wanted to keep those guys working, and I think some of the things that were happening basically meant they were going to be dismantled.