TLoU and Uncharted developer has plans for his own game and is founding a studio for it
The end of Nathan Drake’s story was the end of Bruce Straley in the games industry for the time being. But now he’s back.
Bruce Straley has played a key role on The Last of Us as co-director alongside Neil Druckmann and has also worked on Naughty Dog’s other major Nathan Drake franchise. However, after the release of Uncharted 4, the developer left the studio and withdrew from the industry altogether. Now he’s back with his own team and plans for a new game. This will probably differ considerably from the games mentioned.
Wildflower Interactive introduces and teases game
It’s all about this: Straley introduces his new studio, called Wildflower Interactive, in a video and talks about his next venture. We don’t know much about the new game yet. Despite this, the developer is pursuing a commendable approach with his team, which one hopes will hold up in the real world.
A completely different kind of game: What we can already glean from Straley’s words is that the game in the works will be different from the Naughty Dog titles he has worked on. We can read about the games that Wildflower Interactive intends to release in the future on the official website read:
We make “small”, creatively charged games with a unique style that explore the possibilities of our medium.
Exciting partner: About the new title, for which Straley founded the studio, he also reveals in the video that it is different from anything he has played before. He also sparked curiosity by revealing that Wildflower Interactive has an “exciting partner” who will support the company and help it reach a wide audience. Who this partner is, however, remains a secret.
Here you can watch the video in which Straley introduces the studio:
link to YouTube content
A healthy working atmosphere
From the statement on the website and Straley’s words in his introductory video, it is clear that he wants a different working atmosphere for Wildflower Interactive than that which prevails in large parts of the industry. Massive overtime called crunch and other problems are the order of the day, especially in AAA game development, but are also not unheard of in indie studios. On the Wildflower website, on the other hand, we read:
Good people create good things. It seems so simple and obvious, but that’s really what it’s all about. Let’s enjoy our work and appreciate the people we work with. And let’s try to advance our industry in this process. Starting something new means we can change the way things are done […].
Straley was a co-director on The Last of Us.
The website and video also state that they want to create an inclusive and open-hearted team and bring people into the studio who want to have a good life outside of work. There are currently a few vacancies advertised. The reason for these goals is certainly Straley’s own story, which he touches on in the video.
If you’re looking for news from the The Last of Us universe, you’ll find it here:
In 2017, the developer left the industry and, according to his own statement, no longer knew whether he still wanted to develop games at all. As pushsquare.com writes that Straley was burned out.
So we can only hope that he achieves his lofty goals and can actually create a studio that promotes a healthy work environment with Wildflower Interactive. In addition, we can of course be curious to see who the mysterious partner is and what kind of game will come out of it.
What do you think of Straley’s plans? Will you be keeping an eye on Wildflower Interactive?
Reference-www.gamepro.de