There’s a moment that happens almost every day in our multiplayer game tests – where someone jumps out of their seat, laughs, and doesn’t say to anyone in particular, “Did you just see this happen?” These incredible and unpredictable moments in the game are the sparks that occur when you play with others; future memories ready to be replayed and told.
We have started Firewalk Studios in 2018 with this kind of spark at the heart of our games.
That’s why I would stay awake until 2 a.m. playing Phantasy Star Online night after night with the same group from Server 9. Or how the neighbors who would show up to my apartment in New York City complaining about the noise, ended up falling out with us in Rock Band instead.
For the rest of our team, it was about spending nights with their crew looking for and finding the final piece of perfect armor in Diablo II, qualifying online in competitive Halo tournaments, or not studying. for a math finals to play in Left 4 Dead 2. LAN night.
As a next-gen AAA studio and part of the ProbablyMonsters family, we’ve carefully assembled an amazing and diverse team of top talent who are focused on creating those 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 straight to the other. ProbablyMonsters’ world-class operational teams and infrastructure have allowed us to focus on both: fostering a culture of sustainability where people come first and delivering great games.
Our collective leadership team is no stranger to creating memorable multiplayer experiences. Ryan Ellis, our game director, was Creative Director on Destiny. Elena Siegman, our executive producer, was a producer on Guitar Hero II, Bioshock Infinite and several versions of Destiny. Our extremely talented team have helped bring franchises like Mass Effect and Apex Legends to life. Combined with my own experience (and, uh, thousands of hours of gameplay) on Call of Duty and Destiny, we’ve had the opportunity to deliver some of the greatest experiences of the decade to gamers – and we loved it.
Today, we’re excited to announce a partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment for our original new multiplayer game. For our team, the opportunity to create new worlds and inspire more incredible times for players around the world is the fire and ambition that drives us forward. The PlayStation team have a deep love and respect for supporting games, and some of the best skills and abilities in the world to help make big ambitions a reality.
We’re already working hard on development and having a blast playing our game as a team. In fact, as we have continued to build our team over this difficult last year, it was our daily online play testing that provided the most consistent point of joy and connection for our team. The fun and laughter of playing together brought us closer, even though we were physically apart. Our goal is to be able to deliver the same joy to players and we look forward to sharing what we have been working on when the time comes.
We are fortunate to love what we do: make games. There is more game creation ahead of us, but in the meantime, we will continue to play the amazing games created by this industry and generate a few more sparks.
See you there.
