Santa Monica, Calif. – Game Industry veterans Rick Giolito, Michael Pole and Mark Skaggs today announced the formation of Trilogy Studios, a start-up dedicated to developing the finest new intellectual properties for next-gen interactive entertainment on the Playstation3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

Trilogy also announced today the completion of its first round of independent equity funding, totaling $2.9 million. David D. Jackson, Managing Director for Evanston Financial Strategies, has joined the company’s board of directors as a financial advisor.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Trilogy Studios is comprised of highly successful creative executives and developers responsible for some of the biggest franchises in the interactive entertainment industry including Medal of Honor™, The Chronicles of Riddick™, The Hulk™, Aliens vs. Predator™, No One Lives Forever™, The Lord of the Rings™, Command and Conquer™, The Simpsons™, Empire Earth™, NASCAR™ and Knockout Kings™.

Michael Pole, former Executive Vice President of Vivendi Universal Games, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Trilogy Studios. Mr. Pole, who has also led production efforts at Electronic Arts and Fox Interactive, brings a global perspective to the new venture.

“Our team is made up of some of the most successful developers in the gaming industry with more than 100 years of combined experience and retail sales in excess of $4 billion,” commented Mr. Pole. “The timing for a future-forward game development studio is now. The industry-wide shift toward independent financing coupled with the creative opportunities afforded by a platform transition will allow Trilogy to focus its energies on creating truly transformational next-generation product that can compete on a global scale.”

Rick Giolito, former Vice President and Executive Producer of Electronic Arts Los Angeles where he led the Medal of Honor franchise for five years, is a co-founder and President of Trilogy Studios.

“Trilogy is focused on developing next generation properties that will fill the creativity gap facing the games industry today,” Mr. Giolito commented. “We see a wealth of opportunity in new financial and distribution systems for interactive entertainment in addition to the traditional developer/ publisher model, and Trilogy is building the infrastructure to support these new efforts. There are amazing creative visionaries in Hollywood and other industries who have grown up with games and understand how to speak to our audience, and we are embracing opportunities to work with them.”