God of war 2 has been confirmed by Sony Santa Monica, but you have to wonder how the project will go now that the best talent has left the hired developer this week. Google and Microsoft both have a blind spot when it comes to first-party action-adventure games like God of the war, but these new recruits seem destined to change that.
Santa Monica studio manager and executive producer Shannon Studstill left for a job at Stadia, while The God of War Lead combat designer Dean Rymer has revealed that he is working on an unannounced game at Microsoft’s subsidiary inXile Entertainment.
Studstill is about to lead a new branch of Stadia Games and Entertainment in Playa Vista, California. Following the acquisition of Typhoon Studios in January, this move and the opening of the studio show that Google still has confidence in the long-term prospects of Stadia, despite the concerns of many developers. In this new studio, Jade Raymond, vice president of games and entertainment at Stadia Games, said that Shannon Studstill and her studio “will focus on delivering exclusive games, using new game mechanics, creative ways to play together and unique interaction patterns that we are just beginning to explore. ” Raymond also teases that Studstill’s next game will be a “new IP”.
Sony Santa Monica also announced his departure, telling IGN that “the entire PlayStation is better and grateful for its many years of exemplary service and daring creative vision.” As a co-founder, she has worked in the studio for over twenty years. Studstill will be replaced by Yumi Yang, a product development specialist who has worked at Sony for 19 years.
Meanwhile, Rymer confirmed he assumed the role of Lead Combat Designer at inXile Entertainment and is working on an unannounced game. He thinks that “everyone will love it“The only game we know about inXile Entertainment currently works on is Wasteland 3, released on May 19, but Rymer’s tweets confirm that the studio already has another game in the works.
Considering that he has the contribution of a former God of the war combat designer, could this be a departure from the descending RPGs we expect from the studio? Microsoft has also poached the talent of Sony Santa Monica for The Initiative, one of its brand new studios, so that the God of the war The team has lost good talents since the title’s release in 2018.
the Reverse Analysis
While God of the war has probably not undergone a massive change of direction because Barlog is still attached and has a fairly clear idea of what he wants to do, the departure of several key members of Sony Santa Monica will have a ripple effect. Still, with Barlog and much of the original team still there, God of war 2 will probably turn out well.
However, these movements indicate that we are likely to see new innovative riffs on the God of the war model of Stadia and Xbox in the coming years. Google and Microsoft both have a blind spot when it comes to first-party action-adventure games like God of the war, but these new recruits should hopefully change that. Maybe one of these new IP addresses will end up beating Santa Monica Studio at its own game, but that remains to be seen.
God of war 2 will likely be released on PS5.