Microsoft’s new studio The Initiative is continuing to bolster its staff by adding the most talented writers, producers and directors in the business. They’ve picked up staff like Drew Murray, formerly from Insomniac Games, as well as Tom Shepherd from Rockstar Games. Now, Senior Staff Level Designer Chris O’Neill joins The Initiative. Chris previously worked at Sony Santa Monica on God of War.
Chris O’Neill specifically worked on designing the Mountain portion of God of War. The Initiative has also picked up Ben Diamand, formerly a Senior Software Engineer at SpaceX. Ben is now a Lead Systems Engineer for The Initiative.
Darrell Gallagher, Studio Head of The Initiative, stated during E3 2018 that The Initiative will focus on “storytelling, world-building and creative exploration.” The types of talented engineers and directors being picked up certainly reinforce those ideas of creativity.
Whatever Microsoft’s new studio is developing, it is sure to be a blockbuster considering the amount of talent they’ve acquired. It’s sure to be some time before we see something but in the meanwhile, it’s interesting to watch the building blocks of a new studio fall into place. Microsoft Studios is massively expanding, with The Initiative being built from the ground up and six other studios acquired during 2018.
Source: LinkedIn
