by A team of developers whose previous work includes Halo Infinite, Batman: The Arkham trilogy and Doom (2016) have teamed up with Chinese technology giant NetEase to form a new studio that will create narrative-driven action games with a AAA polish.
The announcement of the new all-star studio Jar of Sparks comes less than two months after Halo Infinite design manager Jerry Hook left 343 Industries. Hook is the studio leader and CEO and will work with other founders Paul Crocker, who was the main storyteller in Batman: The Arkham Trilogy; Greg Stone, who produced 2016’s Doom revival, and Steve Dyck, whose credits include the Halo series, SSX and NBA Street.
Hook says the studio’s mission “is to create a new generation of narrative-driven action games in a new world.”
“We will build games that are great fun to play, with a team that has the creative freedom to innovate and fulfill their dreams,” Hook wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab). “We have just started as an external / hybrid studio and want to open roles available worldwide.”
“We’ve built games for some of the biggest gaming companies, and now it’s time to try to put our own personal lightning in a bottle. We want to create something new, innovative and it’s a lot of fun to play,” said Hook. in the press release (opens in new tab).
“When we wanted to create a new studio, the most critical part of finding the right partner was to adapt to the basic goals of having the freedom to take innovative risks and put the passion of our creators first. This meant that our gaming experiences came “the business, which in itself is a risk. NetEase came to the table with a strong creative first approach; they demonstrated the same passion we have for our players and build new experiences that we think the players are looking for.”
In an interview with IGN (opens in new tab) which came with today’s announcement, predicted Hook Jar of Sparks’ debut title is approximately 3-4 years from release. And while his work on projects like Xbox Live and Destiny may raise some eyebrows, Hook has confirmed that the studio’s first project will not be a live service game due to the pressure that kind of thing puts on a small studio in its infancy.
“[O]one of the main challenges we all seem to struggle with is that there is only so much risk you can take on in a new studio, “Hook said.” You form a complete team of people who do not know each other and who never have done that. worked with each other or brand new IP. Live service adds more complexity on top of that, and I really think from my own experience with service-driven games, the amount of work you need to do to make a live service work is quite enormous. “
To keep up with everything that is closer to the horizon, check out our comprehensive guide to new games from 2022.
