Epic opens Maryland studio

Epic Games has added another studio to its family. The Gears of War developer this morning announced Impossible Studios, a new outfit based in Hunt Valley, Maryland and staffed by former Big Huge Games developers. The developer's first task will be assisting Chair Entertainment on Infinity Blade: Dungeons for iOS, due out later this year.

Impossible Studios is led by studio director Sean Dunn, who formerly served as studio general manager at Big Huge Games on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Previously, Dunn held high-level positions at THQ and Activision. According to Epic's announcement of Impossible Studios, the new developer consists of other former employees at Big Huge Games, who lost their jobs earlier this year when parent company 38 Studios collapsed.

The formation of Impossible Studios comes as little surprise, as Epic president Mike Capps said in June that the company was planning to create a new studio from the ashes of Big Huge Games. At the time, he said former Big Huge Games leadership contacted Epic, saying the newly out-of-work developers wished to start a new company with the help of Epic while keeping "key" staffers together.

Capps said in June that there are "a million things to work out," including how many former Big Huge Games staffers it will be able to hire. It is not clear how many have joined Impossible Studios.

Impossible Studios joins Epic's growing network, which includes its headquarters in Cary, North Carolina; Chair Entertainment in Salt Lake City, Utah; People Can Fly in Warsaw, Poland; Epic Games Korea in Seoul, Korea; and Epic Games Japan in Yokohama, Japan.