Former TT Games Boss Opens New Studio to Make Games Set in Peter Pan’s Neverland

Tom Stone, the longtime managing director of TT Games - the studio behind the blockbuster LEGO video game franchise - has announced the formation of a new company, Second Star Games. Stone, who most recently served as chair of PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab, is returning to his roots in licensed gaming, with the studio’s debut project set in Neverland, based on the adventures of Peter Pan.

The news was revealed in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, where Stone reflected on his two decades at TT Games, including its many successes and the controversies surrounding the studio’s well-documented culture of crunch, as reported by outlets such as Polygon.

Stone was candid about the pressures and intensity of working at TT, particularly during the development of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga:

“I think we're going to take a breath and look up occasionally. When we were making the LEGO games, it was intense. It was blood, sweat and tears. I loved every single moment of it, but upon reflection, we could have made fewer games slightly better and sold probably the same number of units.”

He acknowledged that while many team members loved making LEGO games, others struggled with the studio’s demanding culture:

“It was a pretty tough 15, 16, 17 years we had at TT. We were on a mission. We were focused. We achieved incredible things. Everything in life is a trade; people worked incredibly hard and the games were phenomenally successful. I don’t think everyone complained that it was a tough culture. As happens, there were a number of people who justifiably and rightly said it was a tough environment; their voices were louder than the people who were saying they enjoyed working there and loved making LEGO games.”

With Second Star Games, Stone wants to apply the lessons learned from TT while building a healthier studio culture. The team is starting with Neverland and Peter Pan, but Stone says the long-term ambition is to expand into a broad portfolio of licensed games, similar to TT Games’ approach:

“The first is Neverland and the adventures of Peter Pan. Once we announced the studio, we actually had quite a lot of inbound interest, asking whether we’d be interested in working on this IP or that piece of IP. Obviously, we will be selective and thoughtful. We have to be mindful that we can’t do it all at the same time, but the goal is to build out a stable of expertise in this young gamer space.”

Stone emphasized the enduring appeal of Peter Pan as a shared family story:

“Peter Pan is the fire that everyone is watching, while they all gather around the television together. The vision is to build a stable, bring the thoroughbreds in, and have everyone playing together around a screen.”

Second Star Games currently has 18 full-time employees, several of whom are former TT Games developers. Stone describes the team as tightly knit and committed to a shared vision:

“Everyone’s the same. We’re all in this boat together. Everyone knows each other. We don’t want an HR department. Everyone is there to support one another in building this game together. It’s going to be tough and challenging because we’re setting ourselves incredibly high goals. We had a meeting last week in the studio, where we agreed on a particular design feature, which is going to be very, very challenging to achieve.”

For Stone, the mission is about pushing creative boundaries:

“If we are not going to do stuff like that, what’s the point of doing it? If we aren’t going to break through and make this game truly memorable, then why bother? Everyone is on board. Everyone knows we are going to set ourselves some really, really high bar challenges, and everyone wants to do it.”

It remains to be seen whether Second Star’s debut project will mirror TT’s iconic puzzle-platforming LEGO adventures or strike out in a wholly new direction. What is clear is that Stone is once again aiming to build family-friendly licensed titles with broad appeal, while striving to avoid the crunch-driven pitfalls that defined TT Games’ legacy.

With Neverland as its starting point, Second Star Games could be on the cusp of building another beloved library of licensed titles, this time with a sharper focus on sustainability, creativity, and player connection.

Do you think Second Star Games can recapture the magic of TT’s LEGO titles with Peter Pan’s Neverland, or will fans expect something entirely new?