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WolfEye Studios is a new studio directed by two former Arkane Studios developers, and their debut game will be revealed at The Game Awards 2019 (via GamesIndustry.biz).
“A lot of people asked me, ‘Why would you leave [Arkane]? It's heaven!’” Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio explained what he’s had going on since his departure. “And it kind of was. In my case, I needed a break. It had been 18 years in the same room, and I needed to define myself. There was a bit of an identity thing going on. Who am I without Arkane? That was a very important step to my growth.”
Arkane Studios’ executive Julien Roby joins Colantonio in producing new games which “respond to player actions, where the world reacts to what you are doing, and the experience is owned by the player.” The two emphasise that their projects will prioritise how the game feels and plays over its visuals. “I notice both as a developer and a gamer, I think it's been two or three generations of games now, I've been playing the same game,” Colantonio communicated. "The only difference is that it's more beautiful, higher resolution, more shaders, but really the game is the same.”
He makes a very valid point: “we all remember games with very powerful art direction. We don't remember any game with powerful graphics, unless it had both.” WolfEye Studios will show off its project in the pipeline at The Game Awards 2019 on December 12. It’s exciting news, and new and independent companies are popping up all over the place. Uncharted director Amy Hennig is working with Skydance Media to deliver “shorter form, focused, narrative interactive content”, and Brass Lion Entertainment is made up of former Fallout and Mass Effect developers.
