Microsoft seems to be seriously raising the bar for the next generation of gaming after it’s been revealed that the company has just hired a group of designers who previously worked on PlayStation exclusive, God of War.
God of War level designers Ian Miller, Kai Zheng, Chris O’Neill and Ray Yeomans are the latest editions to new Xbox studio, The Initiative, which was announced last year.
Although it’s not known what sort of project has brought the team of three on board, we do know a little about The Initiative itself.
Based in Santa Monica, The Initiative is a first-party Xbox game studio. It was first announced back in June 2018, with the aim of creating “ambitious and innovative game experiences” for Xbox.
The GoW designers aren’t the only new recruits to The Initiative, as former Naughty Dog senior designer Robert Ryan, Tomb Raider series director Daniel Neuburger and God of War‘s senior managing producer, Brian Westergaard are also now employees of the new company.
From the looks of things, The Initiative is recruiting not only those with a lot of experience in third-person action games, but also those with a lot of experience in narrative-heavy titles…
Maybe Sony needs to watch out?
Xbox is hard at work expanding its current catalogue of development studios, most likely in preparation for the release of its next-generation console, Project Xbox Scarlett.
Due to release next year, Scarlett’s going to need to be not only an impressive piece of tech on its own, but it’s also going to need to have some seriously impressive games to back it up too.
What would you like to see next from Xbox and the company’s seemingly ever-growing list of game studios?
Featured Image Credit: Santa Monica Studio