Mafia Designer Founds New Studio

Daniel Vávra, the design lead for open-world game Mafia and screenwriter for the sequel, now has his own company. He has co-founded a Prague-based developer called Warhorse.

Warhorse's other founder is Martin Klíma. Klíma was once a founding member of ALTAR Interactive, the developer responsible for Original War and the UFO series. He most recently worked at Codemasters on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

Two other employees are mentioned on the developer's website. Victor Bocan is a designer and screenwriter who contributed to Operation Flashpoint, Operation Flashpoint: Resistance and Armed Assault. Zbynek Travnicky is a CGI/FX specialist with experience ranging from the Mafia series to feature films.

"There is a common thread running through our previous games: open worlds, strong storyline and, last but not least, realistic design," says Warhorse's website. "We can proudly say that the games Mafia and Operation Flashpoint were the vanguard of this approach and millions of players worldwide clearly share our view. Even if our new project is different in many respects, it is a game that is not going to disappoint fans of open realistic worlds and quality stories."

Elsewhere, the website mentions that the game is a role-playing game. The careers section of the site mentions that they're looking for a senior programmer with "multi-platform development" experience. Given the experience of the company's founders, it wouldn't be a shock if the PC was one of those platforms.

Warhorse is also looking for a senior 3D artist, level designer, and net admin. Head here