WipEout and Skate Co-Creators Form New Studio Starlight Games

Nick Burcombe, one of the creative minds behind WipEout, and Skate co-creator Andy Santos, as well as other industry vets, have announced a brand new studio venture.


Published: April 22, 2024 11:43 AM /

By:


The Starlight Games logo next to an image of a character from the studio's futuristic sports game

Two of the creative minds behind the WipEout and Skate franchises have announced a brand new studio venture in the form of Starlight Games.

Starlight describes itself as a "new and pioneering" studio focusing on "innovative gameplay experiences that are visually stunning". The studio's first title is House of Golf 2, a followup to the 2019 Switch golf game House of Golf. This one's coming to PC and current-gen machines.

In addition, two other games are in development at Starlight: a "futuristic sports title" headed up by original WipEout co-creator and designer Nick Burcombe and a "strategy sci-fi roguelite action experience" that's being kept under wraps for the time being.

A ball about to be punted in a household environment in House of Golf 2, the first game from Starlight Studios
Starlight Studios' first game is the arcadey minigolf title House of Golf 2.

Starlight's management team consists of "a senior management team of industry professionals", according to a press release.

Burcombe is one of these professionals, along with Skate co-creator and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City director Andy Santos. They're joined by Ben Cronin, who co-founded UK bingo site Jackpotjoy.

The studio's founder is Gary Nichols, another ex-Psygnosis staffer who was also behind Switch Galaxy Ultra studio Atomicom. Nichols says his new studio wants to "foster a creative ecosystem" in which "dreams can be turned into reality".

You can check out a trailer for Starlight's unveiling right here. It features a little footage of the company's upcoming sci-fi roguelite towards the end.

Starlight has also released a brief tease of its futuristic sports game, albeit one that only really shows off character concept art and doesn't give too much away regarding gameplay. You can take a look at that here.

We'll have to wait and see what else Starlight is cooking up with regards to these two projects.

For now, though, House of Golf 2 is heading to PC via both Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, sometime this summer.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Joe Allen's profile picture
| Senior Writer

Joe has been writing for TechRaptor for five years, and in those five years has learned a lot about the gaming industry and its foibles. He’s originally an… More about Joseph