GameDaily BIZ has gotten the first word on the formation of a new independent video game developer based out of Redwood City, California called Sniper Studios. Co-founded by industry veterans Matt McKnight (President and CEO) and Jeff Hasson (General Manager), and joined recently by Ted Fitzgerald (VP of Production & Business Development), the new design, development and production facility hopes to create new production and development opportunities with game publishers by putting game industry "best practices" into full effect.

All told, Sniper's talented staff has worked on more than 80 game launches combined, including several high-profile, multi-million selling properties. The company's producers, artists, designers and developers come from publishers such as Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega, 3DO and more.

Both McKnight and Hasson have considerable experience from Electronic Arts. McKnight worked at EA for over 11 years on titles such as Madden NFL, James Bond 007, TY the Tasmanian Tiger, and NCAA Football. Hasson worked alongside McKnight while at EA on games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Oddworld, Knockout Kings, and The Simpsons. Fitzgerald brings with him 14 years of experience. He worked most recently at LucasArts on Star Wars Battlefront, but he too has much experience from EA, where he worked on titles like Knockout Kings, Madden and James Bond 007.

Sniper said its name stems from a promise "to work with partners to create and deliver high quality products by staying on target and with deadly accuracy in relation to the development process and final product." The company intends to make this possible "via streamlined production processes and an emphasis on tapping into talent from all over the world."

Sniper's first deal is with Sega of America, which will publish an as yet unannounced game in 2007.

"In today's market, there is little room to deliver video games that don't meet market expectations," said McKnight. "At Sniper Studios, we are taking best practices and experiences and marrying that with the best in the industry from around the world to assure seamless and top notch game design and development technology within each level of the production pipeline. And we couldn't be more pleased that our first announced project will be with Sega, a company we respect and admire for their legacy, pedigree and amazing talent."

"Sniper Studios is the ideal partner to develop our upcoming title," commented Dave Cobb, Vice President of Product Development at Sega of America. "Their experience and dedication have resulted in great games in the past and we're excited to be working with them."

As for the company's future projects, Sniper said that it's open to any type of game for just about any platform. The company did not disclose what it has in the pipeline, only stating that it's currently working on established franchises as well as original IP.

GameDaily BIZ has secured an exclusive interview with Sniper Studios, so you can expect to hear more in the very near future.