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[Draugoth]

Former Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen has revealed Giant Skull, a new triple-A studio developing action-adventure games. Prior to directing Survivor and its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Asmussen worked as the director of God of War III and art director of God of War II at Sony Santa Monica.

He left Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn Entertainment in September. Giant Skull is headquartered in Los Angeles but will feature remote developers from around the world.

"The Giant Skull studio culture is focused on creativity and curiosity," Asmussen, who is CEO of the new studio, writes in a press release. "We have assembled a talented team renowned for immersive storytelling, heroic combat, and exhilarating traversal, and our goal is to craft a rich universe that players will want to lose themselves in for years to come."

According to the press release, Giant Skull is a triple-A studio dedicated to building "gameplay-driven, story immersive action-adventure games set in captivating worlds." Considering Asmussen's work on franchises like Star Wars Jedi and God of War, this sounds like he's taking that experience to create a new intellectual property.

Other developers at Giant Skull include chief technology officer Jon Carr, who was the technical director on Jedi Survivor, art director Patrick Murphy, whose resume includes art director on Fortnite and Valorant, lead producer Lauren McLemore, who was a lead producer on Fortnite, and designer director Jeff Magers, who previously handled design on Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order. Giant Skull's animation director is Brian Campbell, who was a founding member of the Fortnite team at Epic Games and then an animation director there, and the studio's chief operating and financial officer is Anthony Scott, who has experience running teams such as Rocksteady Studios.

 

[SJRB]

 

[Kuranghi]

I've just gotten out of my time machine and I'm sad to inform you the studio will shut down in 11 months.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Hire Schofield too while you're at it. We might finally get the first AAAAA game.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I don't think this should even be news until they've released a game or have some kind of proof of concept available. There are a fucking wealth of indie developers out there actually making games and releasing them, yet all the focus goes on these studios that haven't done anything.

Also technical director of Jedi Survivor? That game is a fucking technical disaster. Not sure that's something to market as a new studio.

 

[Gaiff]

>Jedi Survivor!
>New studio!
>Action Adventure game
>UE5...

 

[Bond007]

Hopefully he knows how to build a good and functioning map.

 

[LectureMaster]

Guy's work has been nothing but amazing, hope the new studio can deliver.

 

[Physiognomonics]

I couldn't survive very long into playing Jedi survivor. Such a boring experience.

 

[Jaybe]

I rolled my eyes at the headline (seems like a new studio every week) but Stig seems super-talented with that background. I’m playing through GoW3 now.

 

[SlimySnake]

Big fan of Stig's games. GOW3 was a masterpiece and the Star Wars games are both excellent.

Also technical director of Jedi Survivor? That game is a fucking technical disaster. Not sure that's something to market as a new studio.

Yes, but its still a looker.

 

[StereoVsn]

Any new Studio announcements I take sit a giant grain of salt. It’s going to be years before anything releases and the Studio might get shuttered by then.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

based 2030

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Oof. I hope Jedi 3 is in okay hands with so many of the dev leads gone to Stig's new company.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Stig seems very efficient hence he found investors, could see a game coming out in 2027.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Any new Studio announcements I take sit a giant grain of salt. It’s going to be years before anything releases and the Studio might get shuttered by then.

New PlayStation game coming from ex-Treyarch bosses' Deviation Games

Dave Anthony and Jason Blundell head the new studio

www.gamesradar.com

Deviation Games Is Shut Down Before It Can Ship a Game In Its Partnership With PlayStation - IGN

Deviation Games, the studio formed by Call of Duty's Zombies mode creator Jason Blundell and Treyarch veteran Dave Anthony, has shut down before it could ship out the game it was developing in partnership with PlayStation.

www.ign.com

They seem to be a dime a dozen these days.

 

[Topher]

About time. Stig is too good for EA.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Hopefully he knows how to build a good and functioning map.

I only played the first Jedi game but my god the map and level design was probably the worst I've ever experienced.

 

[Fbh]

Best of luck to them.
Playing Jedi Survivor right now and technical issues aside I'm enjoying it

Also technical director of Jedi Survivor? That game is a fucking technical disaster. Not sure that's something to market as a new studio.

So the person that was like
"Should we make the performance mode 1080p 60fps or 648p 40fps with Ray Tracing?....let's go with Ray tracing!!!"

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Anoth... these studios, man, they're growing like mushrooms in the rainy forest these days.

I don't like Jedi Survivor, but I wonder of Stig even wanted to make it the way it is and stip it from all the good stuff original game had. I hope his next game will be way better, but I won't keep my hopes up just in case.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Stig is amazing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes next.

 

[Bond007]

I only played the first Jedi game but my god the map and level design was probably the worst I've ever experienced.

Shame cause i think the gameplay is superb.
But if I'm running around a maze of a map for 30-40min with no idea what to do and a completely useless map, it becomes less fun. Its like finding a needle in a haystack.

You could say something about games and hand holding these days. But Tomb Raider for example reminds me of this but the maps were far smaller.

 

[StueyDuck]

Former Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen has revealed Giant Skull, a new triple-A studio developing action-adventure games. Prior to directing Survivor and its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Asmussen worked as the director of God of War III and art director of God of War II at Sony Santa Monica.

He left Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn Entertainment in September. Giant Skull is headquartered in Los Angeles but will feature remote developers from around the world.

According to the press release, Giant Skull is a triple-A studio dedicated to building "gameplay-driven, story immersive action-adventure games set in captivating worlds." Considering Asmussen's work on franchises like Star Wars Jedi and God of War, this sounds like he's taking that experience to create a new intellectual property.

Other developers at Giant Skull include chief technology officer Jon Carr, who was the technical director on Jedi Survivor, art director Patrick Murphy, whose resume includes art director on Fortnite and Valorant, lead producer Lauren McLemore, who was a lead producer on Fortnite, and designer director Jeff Magers, who previously handled design on Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order. Giant Skull's animation director is Brian Campbell, who was a founding member of the Fortnite team at Epic Games and then an animation director there, and the studio's chief operating and financial officer is Anthony Scott, who has experience running teams such as Rocksteady Studios.

still curious about his sci-fi game cancelled a SSM.

the star wars games never really leaned in to much of the tidbits we did hear/see about his concept.

Would be cool if he can recreate that vision.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Who is funding them?

 

[fatmarco]

Every time I see an announcement for Unreal Engine 5 on current gen consoles, I cringe. Try a middleware solution that actually works for today's consoles maybe.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Oof. I hope Jedi 3 is in okay hands

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Jedi Survivor felt mid in it's story pacing and of course the overall polish wasn't there (lot of optimization issues). Jedi Fallen Order was superb though and of course his work on God of War 3 is god tier. Look forward to Stig's next work!

 

[SmokedMeat]

Newly formed studio going for AAA right off the bat.

And if they miss, we’ll be reading about team members jumping ship.

 

[CamHostage]

I don't think this should even be news until they've released a game or have some kind of proof of concept available. There are a fucking wealth of indie developers out there actually making games and releasing them, yet all the focus goes on these studios that haven't done anything.

It'd be easier if you would just not read this type news then.

This news is not generated for enthusiast outlets like NeoGAF; it is an industry announcement primarily posted on corporate sites and industry press to attract development talent and investors.

However, it migrated here because some people here think it's cool to know about movers and shakers in the industry, so they post this type of company news even though it's unattached to any specific product announcement and likely will not have any relevance to game players for years to come. We like knowing the answer to questions like, "So, what's Stig going to do now that he has left Respawn?"; knowing this tells nothing about what the game he might be making, but we're still curious about developers who have made interesting or impressive games in the past.

If you would like to know about indie developer games, there are a wealth of other threads on GAF. (Better yet, you can help build focus on those studios by finding & posting cool indie dev game news here to steer attention towards the wealth of titles you feel are being underserved.)

 

[Beer Baelly]

Who is funding them?

 

[Perrott]

Guy's work has been nothing but amazing, hope the new studio can deliver.

Well, I think you might be forgetting about the time his work on a new IP, which failed to come together even after four years of development, nearly killed Santa Monica Studio.

Layoffs Hit God of War Studio Sony Santa Monica - IGN

IGN can confirm that layoffs have swept through Sony-owned Santa Monica Studio, possibly causing the cancellation of one of its projects.

www.ign.com

 

[HyperBitHero]

I just replayed the 4 PS2/PS3 God of War games and Ascension really made me appreciate how good Stig's GoW3 was. Still need to play those Jedi games.

 

[intbal]

I wonder if they're still making that 8th gen version of Jedi Survivor that they announced.

 

[violence]

Unfortunately, he is going to have to accept loans with certain strings attached.

 

[YuLY]

Hopefully Putrid Baby Stink is consulting, I want a diverse and progressive product.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Out of all the new studios that have formed recently I do think this one under Stig will be among the few ones which will actually output a game. Good luck to him and his team!

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Who is funding them?

Looks like a group of private investors. Excerpt from this larger GiBiz interview with Stig:

The team is funded by private investors, and Asmussen says there is sufficient money available to support "our vision and build our studio."

"And from day one, it was very important for me, and for this studio, that we're truly independent, and we have the creative freedom that we need to be our best."