Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley has announced his return to game development with a new studio called Wildflower Interactive.
Straley spent 18 years at Naughty Dog, where he served as co-director in Uncharted 2, The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, before leaving game development five years ago,
“In 2017 I left the industry not sure if I want to make games anymore,” he said in a video announcing his new venture, which is visible below.
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“But the longer I was away, I kept thinking about this remedy, and about everything still to be done and everything I still wanted to do. And this idea continued to follow me.
“So, I caught a few friends and we started prototyping. And the idea started to get better. It started to get exciting again. And I realized I had to make this game.
“But if I’m going to make this game, it means I have to build a team,” he continued. “And if I build a team, I have to build a company. And, well if we do that, then we have to do it right.
“It has to be inclusive, fair and cooperative. Full of kind-hearted people who want to grow both professionally and personally. The culture has to be as repetitive as the way we make games.”
According to Wildflower’s website, the studio “makes‘ small, ’creatively charged, uniquely styled games,” which explore the possibilities of the medium.
Its currently a fully remote work environment and it hires for a number of positions, including COO / studio manager.
The existing team worked on the series Call of Duty, The Pathless, Abzu, Astroneer and Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
Straley said: “We have an exciting partner who supports what we do and will help us reach the widest audience.
“I’m very excited about what we’re building here. We’re doing something I’ve never played before.”
