Climax appoints Bill West at expanding LA studio

British development group Climax has announced the first key hire for its newly-expanded Los Angeles studio, with former Disney and Henson executive Bill West joining up as VP of Business Development.

West has significant experience of both the games and movie industries, with stints at both the Walt Disney Company and the Jim Henson Company under his belt among others, and will be heading up a team of business development experts at Climax LA's new offices.

"It's a great thrill for me to be joining such a progressive, forward-thinking and ambitious company as Climax," commented West. "The company shares my vision of building better bridges between the video game and movie industries and I'm looking forward to creating exciting new partnerships that will allow us to develop even more amazing games."

Climax LA recently finished work on the Xbox version of TRON 2.0 for Buena Vista, and has moved into a 16,000 square foot premises in order to accommodate a further 80 staff as it expands its roster of projects significantly.

"With projects like the awesome Avalon already in development, it's obvious that Climax has the talent, know-how and passion to create cutting-edge games," West continued. "It's my job to exploit new business opportunities so that this talent gets the chances it deserves to be expressed. Considering the company's lofted reputation, technological superiority and proven track record for developing hit games, I'm confident I can deliver."

"We're delighted to have added such a major player as Bill West to the staff," enthused Climax CEO Karl Jeffery. "His vast experience at both movie and video game companies makes him the perfect choice for the role as we look to forge new relationships with the major players from both industries. I'm confident that with him on board, the expansion of the LA Studio has got off to a wonderful start and we can expect great things over the coming months and years."