Ex-Radical exec fires up Hothead

One of the more unexpected outcomes of Activision and Vivendi Games' merger last year was the sweeping number of games that were left out in the cold. In particular, Vivendi's internally owned Radical Entertainment was impacted by Activision's cherry-picking of franchises. Though Activision Blizzard opted to retain publishing rights on Crash Bandicoot and Prototype, nearly half of Radical found themselves without work upon the cancellation of two other projects.

Today, at least one Radical alum has landed on his feet, given that Hothead Games announced that it has picked up the studio's former president and CEO Ian Wilkinson. Effectively immediately, the executive will take over current Hothead president and CEO Vlad Ceraldi's duties, and Ceraldi will transition to the director of game development position. Hothead also said that current chief operating officer Joel DeYoung will now serve as director of game technology.

Hothead is currently at work on the third episode of Penny Arcade Adventures. The Vancouver-based outfit is also developing DeathSpank, an episodic action adventure game from The Secret of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert.