A group of former Lab Zero developers have banded together to form Future Club, a gaming co-op that will seek to make video games in a way that shirks the traditional corporate structure of the industry.
Earlier this year, Skullgirls developer Lab Zero Games was dealing with some serious problems. Company founder Mike Zaimont had promised to remove himself from the company, but he changed his mind and decided that he wouldn't leave after all.
Shortly thereafter, a number of employees left Lab Zero Games. Autumn Games and Hidden Variable soon removed Lab Zero as the developer of Skullgirls. A few weeks later, Zaimont laid off the remaining members of Lab Zero Games due to a lack of funds. Now, a group of 16 former Lab Zero developers have banded together to form Future Club, a brand-new gaming co-op that seeks to change the way games are made.
What is Future Club?
Future Club is a new game development studio formed by 16 ex-Lab Zero employees. Notably, this developer will be eschewing the traditional corporate structure in favor of a co-op arrangement.
"We want to make games that inspire our players the way our favorite games inspired us," read the company's new website. "We come from a variety of backgrounds in the game industry, with previous work on titles like Indivisible, Skullgirls, League of Legends, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, Sound Shapes and much more!"
"Future Club is employee-owned, and we believe that we are greater than the sum of our parts. We value open, honest communication with our peers, partners and players, and believe in our strength as a team."
A co-op brings challenges, however. As noted in this interview with Vice, creating a co-op business is an unusual challenge in a world that is typically dominated by top-down corporate structures.
Here's how it will work: Future Club will still have a CEO and a board of directors. The board and its officers, however, will be voted on by all employees, all of whom will have an equal vote. Salaries will be transparent, but they won't be the same; instead, every employee will be paid based on their seniority and experience.
Future Club is currently working on developing new IPs as it works on figuring out the finer details of running a co-op company. You can find out more about this new game developer on the official Future Club website. You can also follow Future Club on Twitter.
What do you think of Future Club being formed by former Lab Zero developers? What kind of game do you think it will make first? Let us know in the comments below!
