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The new Microsoft game development studio, The Initiative, has released a hype video that begins to explain what the company is all about. Based in Santa Monica, the studio aims to attract talent from other nearby industries such as television, film and music, according to studio director Darrell Gallagher, himself a veteran of Square Enix and Activision.
As you will see in the video, The Initiative is really a new studio that has just moved into an office. People often talk about joining a business on the ground floor, and it seems that this is where the Initiative is currently located. The video also clarifies some of the positions of its employees. Brian Westergaard, veteran of God of War, is the director of production, Drew Murray (Sunset Overdrive, Resistance 3), the lead designer, William Archbell (343 Industries), the technical director and Blake Fischer (Xbox), the director of world and narration. Daniel Neuburger, who worked on Rise of the Tomb Raider, is the game director of The Initiative. He says in the video that the Initiative plans to stay "small", but it remains to be seen what this means in practice. The other developers of the video explain how the Initiative plans to "push the boundaries", "challenge the conventions" and take risks by doing something "spectacular and unique".
Although they do not appear in the video, the Initiative also hired Rockstar Games veteran Tom Shepherd, while Red Dead Redemption writer / designer Christian Cantamessa is one of other recruited personalities.
The Initiative's website shows that the company has more than a dozen positions in various disciplines, including art, design, engineering, production and operations.
This initiative was announced at E3 2018 as part of Microsoft's wider announcement of new studio and acquisitions. The company, based in Santa Monica, says its ambition is "to craft, to create a story, to innovate and to consider the next big adventure". If the company belongs to Microsoft, it claims to operate independently.
The Initiative is just one of seven studios that Microsoft created or acquired last year. At E3, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Compulsion Games (We Happy Few), Ninja Theory (Hellblade) and Undead Labs (State of Decay). At the X018 event organized by Microsoft in Mexico City, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas) and InXile Entertainment (Wasteland 3).
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