Ex-Human Head head creates Big Rooster

When CEO Tim Gerritsen resigned from his position with developer Human Head saying that he "was tired of the issues that come up when you have six other owners," he refused to comment on his future plans.

Now he has announced his latest project will be a new independent development studio called Big Rooster, based in Wisconsin--although the issues with having too many cooks might remain, as the new company has no fewer than four founders.

Working alongside Gerritsen will be animation director Jeff Dewitt, art director Rowan Atalla, and former Midway technical director Jason Blochowiak. Big Rooster will be working on both original titles and licensed games, and is currently hiring, according to a statement. Gerritsen believes that the timing is right for independent developers to succeed, and the chances are "better than they've been at any time in the industry."

Gerritsen comments, "We believe that we can combine good design and stunning imagery to create games players will come back to again and again without burning out our staff to do so."

Tim Gerritsen has been working in game development as, variously, a designer, producer, and executive producer since 1992, on approximately 20 titles, including Prey, Rune, and MechWarrior 3.

Big Rooster is already working on its first game project, a video game version of the classic Games Workshop product Talisman, which will be published by Capcom. The "fantasy hybrid board/role-playing game" will accommodate up to four players and will be coming to the PC, Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3. Talisman will be released this holiday season.