Squarehead Studios, the game developer which won the ‘Free Office’ competition at EVIC, has launched an important new game.

Star Ghost, developed by Rhys Lewis and his team of collaborators during his time at the Ebbw Vale Innovation Centre, is now in the Nintendo eShop and Squarehead is hoping for big things from the new game.

In 2015 Squarehead won a free office for a year at the Ebbw Vale Innovation Centre, run and owned by Tata Steel subsidiary UK Steel Enterprise. His business plan was judged the best to take the coveted prize, valued at £5,000.

Being a tenant of the Innovation Centre has clearly been beneficial to the creative business. “The facilities here are excellent and there is a community of businesses, many with synergies with my own,” said Rhys.

Rhys, originally from Abertillery, worked in Texas for 10 years for games giant Nintendo, and has an impressive record in the industry.

The firm is aiming to expand in coming years, taking on a mix of local staff, as well as working remotely with skilled specialists.

“There is a lot of talent locally and I will be aiming to expand. In three years I would hope to have up to 10 staff working with Squarehead.”

Rhys is very pleased to again be working with the games giant.

He said: “I am delighted to be able to return to Nintendo development with a game that is so close to my heart. I wanted to focus on a tight and accessible gameplay experience that celebrates the arcade games of the past, while taking advantage of today’s much improved graphics and processing power.”

He describes Star Ghost as 'an exciting evolution of the side-scrolling shoot-em-up, featuring procedurally generated levels, a unique new control scheme and an atmospheric soundtrack from renowned composer, David Wise'.

Star Ghost challenges the player to patrol 12 beautifully rendered star systems, navigating the fragments of exploding planets, surviving intense asteroid fields and dogfighting deadly Sentinel ships in a desperate bid to save the galaxy from the Metagon Empire.

Squarehead Studios is an independent game developer, founded in 2014 by former Nintendo developer, Rhys Lewis. Rhys formed Squarehead with the aim of engaging and delighting gamers of all ages with high quality, easily accessible entertainment.

Before founding Squarehead, Rhys was at Retro Studios. He has contributed to a number of well-known titles, including Banjo-Kazooie, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

David Wise is a highly acclaimed composer, perhaps best known for his work on the Donkey Kong Country series, Diddy Kong Racing and Star Fox Adventures.

Ruth Headon, administrator at Ebbw Vale Innovation Centre, said: "It has been a pleasure to welcome Squarehead to EVIC. The business seems to be benefiting from being part of the creative community here, and we wish the new game every success.”