Former Hi-Rez Studios CEO and newly appointed RallyHere Interactive CEO Stewart Chisam announced that the Georgia-based company recently began instituting a restructuring plan to consolidate operations under what he calls “three distinct business units.”
The company has been renamed Hi-Rez Ventures and will now operate three business units: Titan Forge Games, Evil Mojo Games, and RallyHere Interactive. Erez Goren, the founder and chairman of Hi-Rez Studios, will take on the role of CEO of Hi-Rez Ventures.
Titan Forge Games will serve as the new home of SMITE and SMITE universe-set brawler game Divine Knockout. The studio will be led by Alex Cantatore, VP of brand marketing at Hi-Rez; and Hi-Rez Executive Producer Travis Brown.
Evil Mojo Games will be responsible for Paladins, Realm Royale, and Rogue Company headed up by lead producer (Rogue Company) Tony Jones. First Watch Games and RedBeard Games will be rolled into Evil Mojo and Titan Forge, respectively. Hi-Rez Studios will no longer be the publisher of record in this restructure, with specific studios publishing their respective games.
RallyHere Interactive will be run by former Hi-Rez Studios CEO Stewart Chisam and will do business as a software-as-a-service solutions company serving game developers that are building cross-platform live-service games.
This restructure also means that some positions have been eliminated. A Hi-Rez Ventures spokesperson tells The Esports advocate that around 30 employees were affected from departments across the company, though the heaviest impact occurred in departments related to publishing and back office roles.
Chisam said in the announcement that the company is providing support to those affected employees, but did not provide specifics: “We are doing all we can to smooth the transition for those employees and their families, as well as to work with other game studios to find these great game developers new landing spots.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with comments from Hi-Rez Ventures.
