The game industry is swarming with veterans who leave larger, successful studios and create small, indie companies. These devs have their work cut out for them, because first impressions are everything, and a little hype and intrigue can go a long way, especially when they have previously worked on AAA titles such as The Division.
Sharkmob is a recently formed studio that was founded by Fredrik Rundqvist, the ex-CEO of Massive Entertainment (South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Far Cry 3, and Tom Clancy’s The Division). Rundqvist has been joined by several other Ubisoft alumni, including The Division’s technical director Anders Holmquist, The Division’s director/producer Petter Mannerfelt, and The Division and Hitman art director Rodrigo Cortes. The studio has been fairly tight-lipped about its first project, but VentureBeat recently interviewed Rundqvist and discovered a few key facts about the upcoming game.
According to Rundqvist, the first project isn’t an original game but instead a “cult classic” he hopes will turn into a franchise. He was intentionally vague regarding the identity of the property; it could potentially be a fan-favorite movie, television show, or an old video game, but Rundgqvist wasn’t telling. Although, during the interview, he was more than happy to state the game will have a focus on multiplayer.
“We’re not really interested in making a more traditional single-player type of game,” explained Rundqvist. “What we play privately, the kind of games we love, are very social, very competitive, always multiplayer. The more the merrier. Of course, in our opinion, the pure mechanics of that are not interesting if you don’t have the right IP, the right setting, the right fantasy to get people really excited about the game mechanics we provide. I guess that also gives you a hint as to what kind of game we’re making.”
While Rundqvist has not promised any release window, he stated the studio is focusing on a PC release, after which it will turn its attention to porting the game to other consoles. With luck, the game will live up to Rundqvist promises and aspirations.
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