Shadows of the Damned director leaves Grasshopper

Massimo Guarini has left Grasshopper Manufacture, apparently to set up a studio of his own. A teaser page for Ovosonico Productions was recently launched, proclaiming the upstart outfit as coming soon "from the director of the acclaimed Shadows of the Damned."

A veteran of multiple media, Guarini's next venture will do more than just make games. The studio's teaser site boasts the tag line, "The sound of bold ideas," and a look at the site's source code reveals a second slogan, "Games, Music, Films with an attitude."

Before Shadows of the Damned, Guarini had a couple stints with Ubisoft, where he was involved in the Tom Clancy-branded Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six series, and he later directed Naruto: Rise of a Ninja. The multitalented developer's career has also seen him work as a photographer and filmmaker.

Released last month, Shadows of the Damned tells the story of Garcia Hotspur, who goes on a trip to hell to save his true love, Paula. His travelling companion on the long, hard road through hell is a foul-mouthed demonic skull named Johnson that can morph into a variety of guns but is also effective as a torch.

The game was critically acclaimed but commercially underwhelming. Though Guarini directed it, the names most typically associated with the game were that of executive director Suda-51, creative producer Shinji Mikami, and composer Akira Yamaoka.

For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review.