Jade Raymond made waves when she announced she was leaving UbiSoft Montreal, where she was Managing Director of the studio and Producer on many games including the well received Assassin’s Creed series, to open up the brand new Motive Studios with help from Electronic Arts. All eyes will once again be turning her way as she oversees development of a new unannounced Star Wars game along with Amy Henning of Visceral Games.
In an interview in Game Informer released just days ago, Raymond revealed a lot of information on why she chose to leave UbiSoft, her role in the new company, the future of Battlefield: Hardline, as well as some small details on the unannounced Star Wars game.
… a big focus now is on Star Wars. That’s going to be a big game, and we’re doing a big portion at Visceral and a big portion at Motive. That’s a huge opportunity. I have a ton of great, talented people who are huge Star Wars fans who really want to work on that. We’re going to be focusing on that first. In terms of the new IP, I think it’s a bit early to see.
When asked how the division of the IP will break down between the two companies, Raymond stated it wouldn’t be a 50-50 split. Rather, the Raymond-lead Motive would have a “significant portion” giving them “creative ownership over a significant portion of the game.” Amy Henning at Visceral Games will take the reigns developing the other portion which will be “probably not quite 50 percent.”
The project was formerly being developed by Visceral Studios exclusively with Amy Henning taking the lead as Creative Director. Todd Stashwick joined later to help write the story with Henning. They had previously worked together on the Uncharted series of games. Scott Warner, who worked on games such as Fallout 2, Planescape Torment and most recently Halo 4, came aboard as Director.
The unannounced Star Wars game is rumored to be an open-world role-playing game, but few details have actually been released thus far.
Raymond is well aware of the popular status of the IP as well as the significance of the release of this game during the period of time in which a slew of new movies are being developed and set to be released. “We’re getting some of the key people in place. I think it’s more about getting the right team that together will figure out the right thing to make than the idea itself.” She goes on to state, “I think games are more driven by the talent.”
If the talent gathered together for this game so far is any indication, the new Star Wars game will deliver in spades.