The latest talent joining Splash Damage's senior development team are:

• Dean Calver (Heavenly Sword, Silent Hill 2) as Lead Programmer;
• Fabio Bonvicini (Black, Harry Potter) as Animation Technical Director;
• Mattias Engström (World in Conflict) as Senior Technical Designer;
• Oliver Jauncey (Mass Effect, Timesplitters 2) as Senior Programmer;
• Mark Lack (Heavenly Sword) as Senior Environment Artist;

"Despite the reported industry skills shortage, we're constantly amazed at the quality of candidates applying at Splash Damage," said studio owner Paul Wedgwood. "We're building the best team we've ever had."

"I'm really excited to be starting here," said Dean Calver, previously the Lead Programmer behind Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword. "I had the luxury of taking the time to pick a studio and role that really seemed to fit and this is it."

Mattias Engström, Chief Mission Designer on Massive Entertainment's World in Conflict, added: "Splash Damage is a lovely place to work at, with lots of talented people, all gamers at heart, all passionate about the things they do. It's inspiring."

Splash Damage was recently honoured as Best Independent Studio at the prestigious Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008. Next month, Splash Damage will be attending the Golden Joystick awards ceremony in London, where the studio is up for six of the statuettes, including Best UK Developer.

Splash Damage is currently looking to fill the remainder of open positions in the art, programming, and level design fields.