Sony has acquired many developers in 2021, but has also signed partnerships with exciting new teams like Deviation Games and Haven Studios. These aren’t particularly appealing reveals because the teams are just beginning to snap together, but they’re led by veteran visionaries, like former Treyarch boss Jason Blundell in the case of the former.
That studio now has more than 100 employees and, after a rigorous period of pre-production, is about to begin work on its first game. “When we created Deviation Games, we moved away from the normal, the boring, the monotonous, the things that we have seen hundreds of times”, explained in a new video. He added that he wants his team’s debut title to be instantly recognizable from screenshots.
“No story, no matter how good it is, it matters if the gameplay is not fun,” he continued. “The holy grail we are looking for is the marriage between game design and storytelling.” It’s probably safe to assume that the developer is making a first-person shooter, although Blundell talks about innovating a lot and finding ways his team can push the medium forward.
It is unlikely that we will see much of the project in 2022, but it will certainly be one we look forward to in the future. And it’s exciting to see Sony take a chance on talented new teams, as it is sure to diversify the PS5 portfolio. We will be following Deviation Games closely as it settles into its debut project and really gets to work.
