Star Wars Jedi director Stig Asmussen has formed a new studio called Giant Skull alongside several other former Respawn veterans. The new AAA studio will focus on “gameplay-driven, story immersed action–adventure games set in captivating worlds” and has already begun work on its first title.
Giant Skull’s first game is a AAA single-player-focused action-adventure game
Giant Skull is now working on a AAA single-player-focused action adventure game that will be built in Unreal Engine 5. Little else is known about the game at the moment, and while the studio’s website is live, it’s giving very little away. Asmussen did elaborate on the feel of the game for which the studio will be aiming, though:
The Giant Skull studio culture is founded on creativity and curiosity. We have assembled a talented team renowned for immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal, and our goal is to craft a rich universe that players will want to lose themselves in for years to come.
Asmussen has quite a pedigree in gameplay-driven, story-rich action–adventure games. As well as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at Respawn, he has been involved of several of the earlier God of War games at Santa Monica Studio and Ready At Dawn.
Other confirmed Giant Skull developers come with a background across a variety of games too. Fellow Star Wars Jedi franchise veterans Jon Carr will be taking on the role of CTO and Jeff Magers will be design director. Several other members have worked on Fortnite, including art director Patrick Murphy, lead producer Lauren McLemore, and animation director Brian Campbell. Finally, CFO and COO Anthony Scott has years of experience on the Batman Arkham series.
Respawn may well have undergone some layoffs recently but the idea for Giant Skull goes back further than that. Asmussen told GamesIndustry.biz that he had the idea for the studio while he was still employed at Respawn but was “committed to seeing Jedi: Survivor through.” True to his word, he left Respawn Entertainment back in September after the game had been shipped.
