Former Blizzard Entertainment employees Jay Wilson and Julian Love announce the formation of the Gas Giant Games studio. Jay Wilson is famous for leading the development of Diablo III and in particular the famous auction house that was so notorious when the game was released in 2012.
Julian Love, who spent over 19 years at Blizzard, mainly worked on Diablo 3, Diablo 4 and Diablo Immortal. With the experience the two boys have accumulated over the last twenty years, it’s not surprising to learn that their box will start with… an action role-playing game for PC and consoles.
Along with other developers who have worked on titles like Dragon Age 2, Overwatch or Cyberpunk 2077, Gas Giant Games hopes to find a place in the sun. The studio also announces its presence at GDC, which will begin on March 20th. During the show, investors and publishers will be invited to discover the game, which shouldn’t be much advanced at the moment.
It will be interesting to follow the development of the project, as Wilson and Love have vast experience in action role-playing games. Count on us to follow this closely, although we’re undoubtedly several years away from a commercial release.
Jay Wilson, Diablo III Game Director and Lead Designer for World of Warcraft: Legion, and Julian Love, Senior Combat Designer for Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4, introduce their game development studio, Gas Giant Games.
Explaining his interest in forming this new studio with Julian, Jay, Gas Giant Games’ Chief Design Officer, said, “Julian and I have together and individually created some of the finest action, role-playing and gaming systems the strategy games industry has ever seen given has seen. I thought we could create great new gaming experiences if we teamed up, brought together the best developers we know and applied those skills to games and game genres we’re passionate about.”
Julian, the company’s creative director, adds, “Gas Giant Games starts with understanding what players like about the games we make. Then we focus on making those games happen.”
Action, RPG, and strategy systems are things that can enhance virtually any game genre, and the work done by the growing Gas Giant team to date shows that they have the experience of knowing when, where, and how to use them. Surrounded by the best talent in the business, Jay and Julian have brought in veterans of blockbuster titles like Kingdom Hearts, Company of Heroes, Overwatch, Dragon Age 2, Space Marine, Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light, Gears of War… and many others. The team spent the last two years developing multiple game concepts to find the game they most wanted to build.
Jay explains their approach: “Each of our concepts had to pass the test to show that it would not only be a good experience to build, but also a great game to play. We all agreed that we had found the game we needed to make: an action role-playing game with survival elements that we think will appeal to players of both genders.” Julian continues, “It’s a development team’s time is a precious thing and there is no reason for them to spend their time on anything other than the games they want to make.Based on a new intellectual property developed by Gas Giant Games, the game is in development for PC and consoles, with mobile platforms to be evaluated.
Today’s announcement comes in preparation for the studio’s attendance at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, California, March 20-24, where private demos of the game will be available to interested publishers and investors.
“While we’re not ready to reveal the full details of our current project to the world, we can say that fans of our previous games will be excited for what’s to come,” said Jay. “I can tell you that our game will offer visceral and insane combat, immersive progression systems and a unique survival experience, all in a new and original world that we are sure you will love to explore.”