New studio formation leads to Crackdown 2 speculation

Crackdown 2 speculation has resurfaced today after it’s become known that core personnel behind the original game have left Realtime Worlds to form their own studio, Ruffian Games.

Realtime Worlds is still hard at work on its cops n’ robbers MMO, APB. Meanwhile, Crackdown lead designer Billy Thomson has joined the new Scottish studio, along with Gaz Liddon of Xen Group, known for supplying “core technology for rendering and physics, artwork, design and managerial resources” to the popular Xbox 360 game.

We want this game, and we know Microsoft wants it. Is Ruffian Games the studio to bring it to us, or has Realtime Worlds kept ahold of the IP? One thing is certain — we’ll be getting our Crackdown 2, or I’ll be on a plane to Scotland with a sock full of snooker balls.