Avantgarden S.r.l.
FormerlyOvosonico S.r.l. (2012–2020)
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2012 (2012)
FoundersMassimo Guarini, Gianni Ricciardi
Headquarters
Milan
,
Italy
Key people
Rami Galante
ProductsMurasaki Baby, Last Day of June
Number of employees
20 (2020)
ParentDigital Bros (2020–present)

Avantgarden S.r.l. (formerly Ovosonico S.r.l.) is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. It was founded in 2012 by industry veterans Massimo Guarini and Gianni Ricciardi, sold to Digital Bros in 2020.

History

Founder Guarini in 2017

Before the establishment of the studio, Guarini was the director for Grasshopper Manufacture's Shadows of the Damned and Ubisoft's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja. He also has production credits in games for the Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six franchises.[1] After the release of Shadows of the Damned, Guarini decided to move from Japan back to his home country and go independent. He wanted to do something different in life after being in the video game industry for over fifteen years. His approach towards video games is more about trying to connect with humans, not just gamers.[2]

Back to Italy, Guarini reunites with his former colleague Gianni Ricciardi, music composer and audio director for ubisoft and other developers. The two founded Ovosonico in 2012, in a villa on Lake Varese.[3]

In March 2013, Ovosonico announced a partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the development of a new intellectual property, becoming the first Italian game studio to work with Sony.[1] The game, Murasaki Baby, was announced at Sony's press conference during Gamescom 2013 for the PlayStation Vita.[4] The game was released in North America and Europe in September 2014.[5]

Digital Bros invested €1.44 million in Ovosonico in September 2015, acquiring all Ricciardi's shares and gaining a 49% stake in the company,[6][3] while Ricciardi left the company to found his own game audio production studio WANT Musik.[7] In 2018, Guarini relocated Ovosonico to Milan.[3] Digital Bros bought the remainder in March 2020. Guarini subsequently left the company and retained the Ovosonico brand under his company Guarini Design S.r.l., while the Ovosonico studio was rebranded Avantgarden with its twenty employees now managed by Digital Bros' Abramo "Rami" Galante.[3]

Games developed

References

  1. 1 2 Makuch, Eddie (19 March 2013). "Shadows of the Damned director partners with Sony for new IP". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Rose, Mike (4 September 2013). "Games for humans: Shadows of the Damned's creator finds his calling". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Andrei, Andrea (8 March 2020). "Ovosonico, Massimo Guarini lascia. L'azienda acquisita da Digital Bros, si chiamerà Avantgarden" [Ovosonico, Massimo Guarini leaves. The company acquired by Digital Bros will be called Avantgarden]. Il Messaggero (in Italian). Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. ↑ Davis, Justin (20 August 2013). "GAMESCOM 2013: MURASAKI BABY REVEALED FOR PS VITA". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Page, Dennis (11 September 2014). "PS VITA EXCLUSIVE MURASAKI BABY RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCED". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Pearson, Dan (14 September 2015). "Digital Bros invests €1.44 million in Ovosonico". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Contin, Alessandra (21 August 2021). "Musica e videogiochi: la storia tutta italiana di Want Musik". Italian.tech. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
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