New Xbox studio The Initiative has made a group of God of War designers the latest recruits to its growing development team.
The Initiativeis a first-partyXboxgame studio based in Santa Monica, California. The company was announced in June 2018, with a mandate to create “ambitious and innovative game experiences” for Xbox.
God of Warlevel designers Ian Miller, Kai Zheng, Chris O’Neill and Ray Yeomans (who also worked on the Tomb Raider series) have all joined The Initiative from Sony’s neighbouring Santa Monica studio in the past few months, according to LinkedIn, as well as formerMotiveand Naughty Dog senior designer Robert Ryan.
Fiona Cherbak, the former talent acquisition lead at Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, recentlyjoined Microsoft to help with its expansion of Xbox Game Studios, with a current focus on staffing up The Initiative.
The latest hires join a host of experienced talent at the Xbox startup, including game director Daniel Neuburger, who was a game director on the Tomb Raider series, and lead designer Drew Murray, who held the same role onInsomniac’s Sunset Overdrive.
The studio’s director of production, Brian Westergaard, also worked on God of War as senior managing producer.
According to LinkedIn, the company currently stands at around 30 staff and is advertisinga further 15 vacant positions, including for art director and lead producer.
Given the experience of its staff on series like Tomb Raider, God of War and Uncharted, it’s likely that The Initiative is staffing up for a third-person action game.
The company is part of a new drive at Xbox tosignificantly expand its portfolio of first-party studios.
As well as setting up The Initiative and a new Age of Empires studio, Xbox has recently acquired the likes ofNinja Theory(Hellblade),Playground(Forza Horizon), Obsidian (Fallout: New Vegas),InXile(Wasteland 3) and Double Fine (Psychonauts 2).
