Despite inclement financial weather, a handful of former Electronic Arts and Activision developers have decided now is the time to strike out on their own. The group has set up shop in the Tarzana area of Los Angeles and named their endeavor Game Mechanic Studios.

　　Announced this week, Game Mechanic is a collaboration between Jason Alejandre, Jeff Hua, and Henry Ji. Alejandre is the team's president and creative director, with vice presidents Ji and Hua serving as technical art director and art director, respectively.

　　The three developers collectively have more than 30 years of experience in the industry, dating back to the days of the Sega Genesis. More recently, their body of work includes credits on Medal of Honor: Vanguard, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (and the canceled first-person shooter spin-off Tiberium), and a wide swath of Activision's Tony Hawk games, from Pro Skater 3 through Proving Ground.

　　The debut title from the upstart studio--which bills itself as a "blue-collar" developer--will be based on a new intellectual property. The game will be revealed sometime in the next few weeks, but in the meantime a blurry image of the project has been posted as a teaser on the group's Web site.