Sega has opened and begun staffing up a new development studio in England's glamorous West Midlands, the publisher has announced. The Solihull-based "boutique" studio, Sega's third UK dev group, is to focus exclusively on "next generation platforms," whatever that means in this day and age. Its first project is described as "a unique action adventure experience" and slated to launch in late 2012.

"I am genuinely excited about the prospect of opening another studio at SEGA, particularly one co-located with our Technology Group," Gary Dunn, Sega Europe senior VP of production, said in the announcement. "We have seen some great and truly innovative prototypes coming out of the designers, artists and tech staff that form our Technology Group, and we fully intend to keep innovation at the heart of the new studio by keeping close links with the Technology Group who will ensure that this happens."

Sega's hiring for the Solihull studio now, if you are skilled in the ways of video games. The studio's headed by Chris Southall, who most recently worked for Sega Europe as technical director on games including Alpha Protocol, Napoleon: Total War, and Vanquish.

It's always good to see a large company opening a new studio in the UK, in spite of the government backtracking on plans to offer tax breaks for game development. The UK industry, especially industry body TIGA (The Independent Game Developers' Association), has often called for tax relief to stop development shifting to countries who welcome the industry, rather than treating it with indifference at best.