Veteran console developer Stig Asmussen has announced the launch of his own game studio. It's called Giant Skull. The studio will develop AAA projects.
The founder of the studio, Asmussen, is known for two game series.
- At Sony Computer Entertainment America, he worked on the original God of War trilogy for over a decade. At first, as a leading environmental artist and art director, and by the third part he had grown to the position of creative director.
- Then at Respawn Entertainment for nine and a half years, he led the development of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Including forming a team for the series.
At Giant Skull, he also took on the role of not only the project manager, but also the studio's CEO.
In addition to Asmussen, the new company has, among others,:
- John Carr, former CTO of Respawn Entertainment;
- Jeff Magers, former Director of Game Design at Respawn Entertainment;
- Patrick Murphy, former art director of Epic Games, Riot Games and Santa Monica Studio;
- as well as other natives from Respawn Entertainment, Epic Games, Rocksteady Studios and Infinity Ward.
It is not specified exactly how many people are in the company now, but in an interview with GamesIndustry, Asmussen said that his team will be able to make a very successful and competitive game with a team of 100 people. Although he noted that he did not know how much the studio would grow.
There are no details about what exactly the future Giant Skull game will be. It is only known that this will be a single-player game in the genre of action adventure, where an important role is given to both gameplay and immersion in history. The project is being developed on Unreal Engine 5.
The launch of the studio was funded by private investors, whose names are not mentioned, as well as the amount of money raised. According to Asmussen, this money is "enough to support the vision and build a studio."
The studio is positioned as an independent one.