Giant Skull
After a increase of online game studio foundings, acquisitions, and developer recruiting within the late 2010s and early 2020s, the trade is headed in the wrong way. Acquisitions have slowed down, layoffs occur a number of occasions per week, and information of canceled initiatives and studio closures has overtaken that of studio bulletins. During this time, an trade veteran and sport director behind titles like God of War 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has began a brand new studio
Stig Asmussen left Respawn Entertainment in September 2023. At the time, we didn’t know what was subsequent, however this morning, Asmussen introduced that he had based a brand new studio known as Giant Skull alongside veterans from firms like Respawn Entertainment and Epic Games. That crew is now at one on creating its first title, an action-adventure sport that Giant Skull is protecting underneath wraps for now. Prior to the announcement, I spoke with Asmussen to study extra about this AAA studio rising at a time when the online game trade is struggling.
No regrets
“This idea of being able to start a studio from the ground up with really good people and to be able to define the culture, the types of games that we’re going to make, and the types of players that we want to speak to, it really resonated with me,” Asmussen tells Digital Trends. “I just couldn’t let it go.”
Giant Skull
From my dialog with Asmussen, it grew to become clear that this isn’t a former AAA developer trying to strike out on his personal for a small impartial manufacturing. He was reached out to with a studio-founding alternative — one thing that’s getting more and more uncommon for online game builders — and Asmussen determined to embrace it. He tells us leaving Respawn was a “difficult decision” as a result of he was comfortable working there and never making an attempt to “run away from anything.”
“One of my mottos is ‘no regrets,’ and I felt like if I didn’t take this opportunity, then I would always look back, wish about what could have been, and perhaps wasn’t going to be the best version of myself, ” he says. “Something of this scale, there are people that I’m partnering with, and it’s actually an incredible support group. That’s making sure we can focus on being creative and not have the friction that normally would be involved with starting up a new studio.”
As for what initiatives the builders on the crew are centered on, Asmussen confirmed that Giant Skull is beginning as a one-game studio and that it’s making a single-player action-adventure sport that performs from a third-person perspective. He believes motion journey video games must be “about taking a player on for a ride and asking them to look around, probe the world, and ask questions,” a sentiment that actually applies to his Star Wars Jedi video games. He desires Giant Skull’s video games to “have a certain tempo and momentum to them, so you are always driving and you feel like you want to move forward.”
We’re not going to exit and attempt to make a flight simulator.
During our dialog, Asmussen emphasised that he’s not thinking about chasing trade traits like reside service and as a substitute embraces what he is aware of his crew can execute properly. He additionally has no qualms about doubling down on single-player AAA video games.
“We’re not going to go out and try to make a flight simulator; we’re not good at that. We’re going to focus on the type of game that we’re good at,” Asmussen explains. “And especially for the first game, we’re going to be ambitious, but we’re going to build upon things that we’ve done in the past rather than trying to create things that might be a little bit more exploration for us. That’s not about reducing ambition because I think we’ve proven that we can do premium quality AAA games and handcrafted experiences, and that’s always difficult to do.”
The large cranium of a struggling trade
Giant Skull’s unveiling outcomes from a long-gestating plan to determine a brand new AAA studio that has secured funding and isn’t going through the identical struggles different sport firms face in 2024. Asmussen says the layoff wave the online game trade is going through proper now could be “tough,” citing his personal expertise with sport cancellations, studio shutdowns, and realizing folks impacted by this present flurry of online game trade layoffs.
He additionally factors out that “when you have 30 great games come out in one year in one space, there are only so many games that an individual can buy, and maybe those games cannibalize each other to a certain extent.” Giant Skull’s first sport remains to be years off, so the online game trade will doubtless be in a unique place when its first sport comes out. Still, it’s notable that Giant Skull seems to be in an excellent place at a time when many different studios are struggling.
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Asmussen says the crew is at present 30 folks and desires Giant Skull to remain “lean and mean” for now in its early levels. While Giant Skull has an workplace in Los Angeles, Asmussen additionally says he’s open to staff doing distant work at a time when firms like Blizzard Entertainment and Rockstar are forcing their staff to work on the studio, a lot to the chagrin of these builders.
“I think there’s a lot to be learned from COVID. The most important thing is having freedom and being able to work the way and operate the way that’s going to be best for your personal life. In turn, that will probably allow you to execute best as an individual on the team.” Asmussen went on to inform me that individuals are an important factor to account for when constructing a studio, which is refreshing to listen to when it feels just like the leaders at online game firms see their staff as little greater than numbers on a spreadsheet
Although most of the studios struggling proper now can’t match Giant Skull’s state of affairs of getting assist earlier than the at present tumultuous storm of the online game trade, there’s something to be Asmussen’s strategy of seizing obtainable alternatives and having the assist of people that need you to be inventive. Hopefully, these sorts of studios survive the tumultuous interval the online game trade is in the midst of.
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