As the new generation rolls past the six month mark, players continue to wait for those true “next-gen” experiences. Both Xbox and PlayStation are working on a wealth of new titles, and PlayStation quietly announced another one this morning.
Herman Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, announced this morning that they are developing a new, multiplayer IP with Firewalk Studios. Firewalk is a new studio having only been founded in 2018, but filled with veteran industry talent. Via the PlayStation Blog this morning, Head of Firewalk Studios, Tony Hsu, published the following statement:
There’s a moment that happens almost every day in our multiplayer playtests – where someone jolts out of their seat, laughs, and says to no one in particular, “Did you just see that happen?” These amazing and unpredictable moments in gaming are the sparks that occur when playing with others; future memories ready to be replayed and retold.
We started Firewalk Studios in 2018 with this kind of spark at the heart of our games.
It’s why I used to stay up until 2 AM playing Phantasy Star Online night after night with the same group from Server 9. Or how the neighbors who showed up at my NYC apartment to complain about the noise, ended up jamming with us in Rock Band instead.
For others on our team, it was spending nights with their crew searching and finding the perfect last armor set piece in Diablo II, making the online qualifiers in competitive Halo tournaments, or skipping studying for a math final to play in a Left 4 Dead 2 LAN party.
As a next-generation AAA studio and part of the ProbablyMonsters family, we’ve carefully assembled an amazing and diverse team of best-in-class talent who are focused on creating these moments. Everyone here brings a deep passion for games and the art of making them. We have a saying at Firewalk: build a great team, build a great game. One leads directly to the other. The ProbablyMonsters’ world-class operations teams and infrastructure has allowed us to focus on doing both better: fostering a sustainable development culture where people come first and delivering great games.
Our collective leadership team is no stranger to building memorable multiplayer experiences. Ryan Ellis, our Game Director, was a Creative Director on Destiny. Elena Siegman, our Executive Producer, was a producer on Guitar Hero II, Bioshock Infinite, and multiple Destiny releases. Our deeply talented team has helped bring to life franchises like Mass Effect and Apex Legends. Combined with my own experience (and, er, thousands of hours played) on Call of Duty and Destiny, we’ve had the opportunity to deliver some of the decade’s biggest experiences to gamers – and we’ve loved it.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce a partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment for our new, original multiplayer game. For our team, the opportunity to create new worlds and inspire more amazing moments for players around the world is the fire and ambition that keeps us going. The PlayStation team has a deep love and respect for the medium of games, and some of the best expertise and capabilities in the world to help make big ambitions a reality.
We’re already hard at work on development and have been having a ton of fun playing our game as a team. In fact, while we continued to grow our team during this challenging last year, it was our daily online playtests that provided the most consistent point of joy and connection for our crew. The fun and laughter of playing together brought us closer, even if we were physically apart. Our goal is to be able to deliver that same joy to gamers and we can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on when the time is right.
