Gamasutra Talks With Tiburon GM Philip Holt

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Gamasutra had the chance to talk with the Tiburon general manager Philip Holt about a wide array of topics. Before diving into those topics though, for those that don't read Gamasutra very often, they have a very industry-focused outlook; so as a result the folks at the site tend to focus on the inner workings of studios more so than just the actual games. That may sound boring to some, but Tiburon is an interesting studio since it is located near Orlando, Fla., which is more of an isolated game development area, and because the studio controls one of the most powerful brands in videogaming: Madden.

So with that in mind, Christian Nutt over at Gamasutra talked with Philip Holt about such things as moving the NASCAR series over to the new EA studio located in North Carolina; what the studio looks for when hiring new people; how the football team at Tiburon pushes themselves even with no direct football competition; and the possibility of Tiburon doing more than just sports titles.

You can read all about that and more over at the provided link, but the biggest news bit is the initial one I listed: the NASCAR series possibly moving to the EA studio in North Carolina. The N.C. studio was just recently created and handled the PS2 version of NASCAR 09. But it seems like Holt wants the studio to expand:

Quote:

And they're building NASCAR 09 for PS2 this year, then we're looking at what they're going to do next, and it's likely to be the NASCAR business.

The follow-up question dealt with the studio expanding accordingly, which Holt also acknowledged -- right now the N.C. studio has just nine or 10 people on staff.

If the NASCAR series is moved to N.C. one would assume Tiburon employees are going to be relocated, or Tiburon would need to find work for the NASCAR series employees. Either change would add some credence to Holt's words about Tiburon expanding outside the sports gaming fold.

Q&A: EA Tiburon's Holt On The House Of Madden [Gamasutra]