Former MachineGames developers Michael Paixao and Joel Jonsson have set up new studio Bad Yolk. “With a focus on employee health and happiness” the studio – based in Sweden – states its first unannounced IP is already in production, with a core team made up from Former Wolfenstein New Order, Doom, and New Colossus developers.
According to a recent press release, the studio currently employs 10 senior triple-A developers “with a combined 90+ years of experience and over 14 triple-A titles shipped including Chronicles of Riddick, Eve Online, Gears of War, The Division, The Darkness and many others”.
Bad Yolk is described by its founders as “a brand new, forward-thinking video game studio” that aims to attract “the best talent by offering a healthy and happy work-life balance, and thus, make the greatest, most creative and technically superior games possible”.
Though formally announced yesterday, Bad Yolk was actually established in Uppsala, Sweden in 2017, but a court case about a non-solicitation clause in MachineGames’ employment contracts (thanks, GI.biz) disrupted Bad Yolk’s early years. The studio eventually won the case, a decision that consequently changed contract law across the country.
“After years of working with some extremely talented people on some really great projects we felt it was time to branch out on our own to create a new kind of studio,” said Paixao from Bad Yolk. “Obviously high quality video games should be fun to play, but we also believe that they should be fun to make and that creativity thrives best in a healthy and balanced work environment, which is a central pillar of our corporate message and structure.”
