Today, former Sony veterans John Garvin (former creative director of Bend on Siphon Filter, Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Days Gone) and Michael Mumbauer (former head of PlayStation’s visual arts support studio, who left after the arrival of The Last of Us Remakehouse by Naughty Dog) announced Ashfall, the first game from their new studio Liithos.
According to the press release, Ashfall takes place hundreds of years in the future when the world is ravaged by massive fires and floods due to global warming. Here is some additional blurb we found on the official Liithos website.
Pacific Northwest, hundreds of years in the future. Global warming has caused massive floods and fires. Apparitions of the Trace – pockets of dark energy – have wreaked havoc on weather and human lives, decimating entire cities. Civilization has collapsed into local enclaves where humanity is struggling to survive.
The game will begin as a “connected single-player adventure” that will eventually evolve into a PvP and PvE multiplayer world with Web 3.0 support. Players can apparently choose to play through the Hedera blockchain network for a build, trade, and sell experience. Liithos also has transmedia plans and the Ashfall story will begin with a digital comic book written by John Garvin himself with cover art by Worldstorm and Brett Booth from DC Comics.
Michael Mumbauer, Founder and Managing Director of Liithos, said:
At Liithos, we want to bring the next evolution of AAA gaming to the masses in a connected way that has never been experienced before. The gaming industry is amazing in that it has evolved through a series of innovations, never looking back. We look forward to continuing this trend, working with partners like the HBAR Foundation to support the Hedera Network, who understand the potential and need for innovation without any harmful impact on the environment.
John Garvin, Vice President, Creative of Liithos, added:
Michael and I have worked creatively together for almost two decades and this is our chance to create something truly new and exciting. It’s as if the group is reforming. Our goal is to create a true next-gen open-world experience that uses new technologies to enable user-generated content. As always, our goal is to create beloved characters, engaging stories, and evolving gameplay and world to explore, not only in games, but in other media as well.
Alex Russman, vice president and head of the Metaverse fund at the HBAR Foundation, said:
The team that Michael has assembled at Liithos represents the best minds in AAA game development and transmedia IP creation. As Liithos leads the charge in bringing high-level gaming into the Web3 era, creating richer and more rewarding experiences for their users, we are happy to partner with them and support the development of games and software. Liithos ecosystem, both on the Hedera network and within the wider gaming industry.
Check out the Ashfall trailer below.
