Over the past couple years, Microsoft has mostly focused on expanding it Xbox Game Studios stable by purchasing existing companies like Ninja Theory and Obsidian, but the publisher is also starting an all-new studio in Santa Monica called The Initiative. The Initiative is headed up by Darrell Gallagher, who’s contributed to a long list of games, including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and the studio's hires include devs who have worked on series like Red Dead Redemption, God of War, Uncharted, and Battlefield.
Well, Darrell Gallagher has announced his latest round of hires, and they include major names such as Marvel’s Avengers director Remi Lacoste, Destiny 2 narrative lead Christine Thompson, and Playground Games’ lead UI designer Richard Burns. You can check out the full list of all the newly-minted The Initiative employees, below.
Remi Lacoste (Crystal Dynamics), Christine Thompson (Bungie, Cryptic Studios), Justin Perez (BioWare, Respawn Entertainment), Daniel Steamer (Crystal Dynamics), Francisco Aisa García (Naughty Dog), Richard Burns (Playground Games), Sylvia Chambers (Naughty Dog), Nicole Plum (The Coalition, Insomniac Games), Jonathan Chavez (Treyarch), Fabian Elmers, Kurt Loudy, Anthony Silva, Yuka Murata, Joey Tan, Elaina Scott, and Jon Lew.
Quite the murderer’s row of talent! Microsoft has yet to reveal what The Initiative is making, but Phil Spencer has teased they’re doing “new things, and old things, in new ways” and it’s been strongly rumored they’re working on a revival of Rare’s Perfect Dark franchise. Of course, that’s far from confirmed, but it would make a certain amount of sense given some of the names Microsoft has decided to bring onboard. Plenty of names with experience doing female-led stories and first-person shooters!
What do you think The Initiative is working on? In a perfect world, what kind of game would you like to see them make?
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
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