Journey

THE BUZZ: Just as news of Journey‘s massive success hits, a number of key members of the game’s developer have left the company.

EGM’s TAKE: A few months ago, it was Fumito Ueda leaving Team Ico. Now, it’s key members of thatgamecompany leaving. What’s going on with the high-art PS3 developers out there?

While this certainly doesn’t mean the end of thatgamecompany—and mastermind Jenovah Chen is still at the helm of the developer—it has come out today that co-founder and president Kellee Santiago has officially left. As well, news hit earlier today that executive producer Robin Hunicke has also departed, heading over to Tiny Speck to join Katamary Damacy creator Keita Takahashi.

Santiago and Hunicke join producer/designer Chris Bell and “feel engineer” John Nesky, who also left thatgamecompany last week to form a new development studio, The Willderness.

Again, no need to fret over the fait of thatgamecompany just yet—but one has to wonder if it [i]does[/i] say something about what’s going on at the developer. Maybe three times isn’t the charm for studios dedicated to brining us enriching and unique gaming experiences.