ArenaNet, Undead Labs Founder Jeff Strain Opens New Studio

Industry seasoned Jeff Strain has opened Possibility Space, a caller crippled improvement workplace embracing distant enactment to gully connected endowment from astir the world. 

Strain is simply a erstwhile Blizzard developer, having co-founded ArenaNet, the workplace down Guild Wars, implicit 20 years ago. He besides founded Undead Labs, the workplace down State of Decay that Microsoft acquired in 2018. Possibility Space has already gathered up immoderate awesome talent, too, featuring erstwhile developers from Campo Santo, Ubisoft, Insomniac, Double Fine, BioWare, EA, and more. 

“We felt this was the close clip to make thing caller – a workplace built from the crushed up to clasp evolving needs and perspectives for some players and developers,” Strain writes successful a property release. “Like galore others, the past twelvemonth and a fractional has been a fraught clip for me. While I americium grateful that my household is safe, the anxiety, fear, and isolation of the past 18 months has been astir unbearable astatine times. That fearfulness and isolation was the catalyst for Possibility Space, a modern benignant of crippled studio, wherever we are creating a joyful crippled that’s been my imagination for galore years.” 

That COVID-19-related anxiousness besides seemingly inspired Strain to marque Possibility Space a “distributed crippled improvement studio” that allows “developers to unrecorded and enactment wherever they want.” While the institution welcomes distant work, Possibility Space volition beryllium based successful New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Some of the endowment joining Strain astatine Possibility Space includes Firewatch’s erstwhile pb situation artist, Jane Ng, who besides served arsenic an creator connected Half-Life: Alyx. Ng is Possibility Space’s ocular director. Liz England, who antecedently worked arsenic the pb decorator of Watch Dogs: Legion and connected Sunset Overdrive, volition articulation the workplace arsenic its communicative systems plan director. Making the leap from games media to crippled development, erstwhile Waypoint editor-in-chief Austin Walker volition enactment arsenic Possibility Space’s IP director. 

Beyond its committedness to distant work, which opens the doors to developers worldwide, Possibility Space besides aims to service underserved communities wherever its developers mightiness reside. 

“[Possibilty Space] is built from the crushed up arsenic a distributed studio, allowing unit to unrecorded wherever they privation to unrecorded and enactment wherever they privation portion supporting the communities they love,” a property merchandise astir the workplace reads. “Based successful New Orleans, Louisiana, the workplace besides works to identify, mentor, train, and prosecute individuals from underserved and overlooked communities and backgrounds.” 

Today’s quality comes 2 months aft Strain called for the gaming manufacture to unionize successful airy of the ongoing suit against Activision Blizzard, citing that “enough is enough.” In the unfastened missive wherever Strain said this, helium besides said that helium welcomes his ain employees to unionize and that they person his “full endorsement.”

Are you excited to spot what Possibility Space is cooking up? Let america cognize successful the comments below!