The modern gaming industry has increasingly seen big name directors and talents choosing to start their own independent development studios. Often, multiple veterans of a particular developer will start their own studio like former Microsoft and 343 Industries veteran Jerry Hook's Jar of Sparks. With gaming become more diverse and accessible to more people with each passing year, more studios crop up to fulfill specific niches within the community. Now, former Last of Us director Bruce Straley has officially launched his own studio, Wildflower Interactive.Bruce Straley is no stranger to the gaming industry with a resume that spans some of Naughty Dog's most iconic franchises. Straley got his start in the gaming industry in the early 1990s working as an artist on games like X-Men and Gex, and later joining Naughty Dog to work on Jak and Daxter. During his eighteen years with Naughty Dog, Straley would serve in a directorial role for Uncharted and Uncharted 2 before directing the first The Last of Us game. Now, Straley is heading up Wildflower as a new game studio focused on "evolving the medium."Wildflower Interactive went public on Wednesday with the developer launching both an official Twitter and a website. The studio's description on Wildflower's website describes itself as making "small-ish, creatively-charged, uniquely stylized games." The initial marketing for Wildflower pushes itself as a studio looking to innovate and "explore the possibilities" of video games as a medium. The landing page also confirms Wildflower is working on its debut game, though the studio did not make any announcements related to the mystery title.
Wildflower's site also includes a listing of the new studio's initial eleven-person roster with a variety of game development experience across multiple studios. Wildflower unsurprisingly features several former Naughty Dog employees, given Straley's history with the company, and also includes former members of studios like Deep Silver Volition and Obsidian. The studio also put out an accompanying announcement that Wildflower is looking for more employees with roles available for artists, programmers, and management.
Wildflower Interactive debuts in a gaming industry that has seen indie development studios become a core and integral part of the gaming world. Games like Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight have become universally praised by both fans and critics alike while being created by small teams or even a single developer. Wildflower will look to benefit from a wealth of game development experience across its small team as Straley's studio works on its debut game.
Source: Wildflower Interactive