Aliens vs. Predator developer Rebellion opens social games division

Unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that AvP is coming to Facebook. Develop reports that Rebellion, the UK-based studio behind the Aliens vs. Predator games, has opened a social gaming division. This internal team will focus on Facebook games after having recently released Evil Genius, its first social game. Rebellion will still focus on creating high-profile games with high production values, but after seeing its first social game leave the nest, Rebellion appears hungry for more.

"The release of Evil Genius has given us an appetite to look at other opportunities in the area," said Rebellion co-founder Jason Kingsley. "One thing that has become increasingly apparent over the last few years is that gamers can't be defined as just people who own consoles – people who use social media like Facebook or use smart phones all play games and this is an exciting new opportunity that we want to explore."

Rebellion follows several traditional gaming companies into the Facebook scene like EA, Konami, Sega and Ubisoft. If anything, this move is yet another example of massive shifts in the gaming industry. In other words, expect to see more (and even bigger) companies follow suit in 2011.

[Via Shacknews]

[Image Credit: Squidoo]

How do you think Rebellion will fare in the social games space? Do you think it's to traditional developers' benefit that they focus at least some talent toward Facebook? Speak up in the comments. Add Comment.