Lord of the Rings Online studio brings on Elder Scrolls, Kingdoms of Amalur designer as director of design; former NetherRealm, Zynga, and Petroglyph devs round out "key hires."

Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine has added new leadership to its studio. The Needham, Massachusetts studio today announced that it has hired Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston, as well as former NetherRealm and Zynga developers.

Rolston served as lead designer for Bethesda on Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and was most recently behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at the now-defunct 38 Studios. His new title at Turbine is director of design, and his responsibilities include leading the vision and implementation of all aspects of game design at the company.

Coming aboard from Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm is Alan Villani, who will work at Turbine as vice president of technology. His duties at Turbine include managing the company's digital technology platform, with a specific emphasis on "online engagement" and monetization.

Rounding out the new hires are former Zynga technology maestro Jai Singh, who will head up technical operations at Turbine, and Demetrius Comes of Petroglyph Games (End of Nations, Rise of Immortals). Comes has been hired on as executive director of engineering where he will oversee all engineering functions for the studio's product development team.

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