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Design director leaves Xbox studio 'The Initiative'

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So let me get this straight. This guy spent two years working for Microsoft and all he had to show was a CGi trailer some trailer company made for him?

One, Surely this isnt particularly efficient.
And two, How do I get this job?

Certainly doesn't instill confidence in The Initiative.

"Directors" know what they are getting themselves into. People that join start-up studios know what they are getting themselves into. AAA game makers know what they are getting themselves into. This guy is an industry vet from Insomniac. He knows.

Perhaps he did have something else come up that was an emergency, but it just seems like his heart isn't into the project based on his comments and he's not wanting to devote the time and effort it'll take to see this through.
 

nikolino840

Member
but it just seems like his heart isn't into the project based on his comments and he's not wanting to devote the time and effort it'll take to see this through.
Where ?
CjLTOzQ.jpg
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Certainly doesn't instill confidence in The Initiative.

"Directors" know what they are getting themselves into. People that join start-up studios know what they are getting themselves into. AAA game makers know what they are getting themselves into. This guy is an industry vet from Insomniac. He knows.

Perhaps he did have something else come up that was an emergency, but it just seems like his heart isn't into the project based on his comments and he's not wanting to devote the time and effort it'll take to see this through.
well, it seems the poor guy lost his brother. Though, i dont know why he didnt just take bereavement time off. Microsoft is really good with stuff like that. He couldve taken a few weeks off. Who knows. People grief in different ways. I have a feeling that his heart wasnt in it and this was the last straw.

Sony's own san diego studio recently had some high profile departures. I think creating these so-called Avengers studios with AAA talent isnt really the recipe for success. we saw this with 343i. they hired all these big shots but they just couldnt gel as a team. the san diego studio was making some new IP and had talent from rockstar, ND and insomniac and they have pretty much moved on to exploring games based on existing franchises.
 
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well, it seems the poor guy lost his brother. Though, i dont know why he didnt just take bereavement time off. Microsoft is really good with stuff like that. He couldve taken a few weeks off. Who knows. People grief in different ways. I have a feeling that his heart wasnt in it and this was the last straw.

Sony's own san diego studio recently had some high profile departures. I think creating these so-called Avengers studios with AAA talent isnt really the recipe for success. we saw this with 343i. they hired all these big shots but they just couldnt gel as a team. the san diego studio was making some new IP and had talent from rockstar, ND and insomniac and they have pretty much moved on to exploring games based on existing franchises.

That is a bit understandable. He came out of retirement for this gig, maybe not spending time with his brother made him re-evaluate what he wanted to do with his spare time. Maybe that's not working 60 hours+ per week in AAA development.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Of course he's not going to bad mouth the team. Maybe they'll do a good job, but losing your director, especially one his his experience, is a huge loss for the team.
yeah, i was reading Jason's article on cyberpunk, and they also lost a couple of directors mid dev. The CEO took over as game director and changed a bunch of things around, threw away already developed ideas and storylines and basically started from scratch. losing your director is never a good thing and can set you back in many cases.

there is a reason why Halo Infinite is such a shitshow. They lost a bunch of creative leads and we were told that it was business as usual. Well now we know what can happen when leads leave a project.
 
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intbal

Member
I don't know what these titles mean any more.

Used to be "Lead Designer" or "Lead Developer" was the person responsible for making the game what it was, content-wise.
Like Warren Spector on Deus Ex.

Was this fellow with The Initiative serving a similar role? If so, I suspect the entire project will be scrapped and reimagined by someone else. Might not create much of a delay, but certainly won't be the game that was originally planned.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
Does anyone know if he stepped down because of personal reasons? Just want to know before I try to start a war in the replies.
 

driqe

Member
I don't know what these titles mean any more.

Used to be "Lead Designer" or "Lead Developer" was the person responsible for making the game what it was, content-wise.
Like Warren Spector on Deus Ex.

Was this fellow with The Initiative serving a similar role? If so, I suspect the entire project will be scrapped and reimagined by someone else. Might not create much of a delay, but certainly won't be the game that was originally planned.
Why would the entire project be scrapped? :messenger_mr_smith_who_are_you_going_to_call:

Darrell Gallagher is the Head of the studio. If it was him leaving, your comment still wouldn't have made much sense either.
 

intbal

Member
Why would the entire project be scrapped? :messenger_mr_smith_who_are_you_going_to_call:

Darrell Gallagher is the Head of the studio. If it was him leaving, your comment still wouldn't have made much sense either.
Because they haven't even started yet, have they? It's just a design document.
Happens in movies all the time. New director comes on board, throws out the old script and has a brand new one written.
 
So doesn't matter what he say becouse you think he is lying?

stop putting words in my mouth.

He’s being humble, we don’t know the impact of him leaving, but it’s generally not a good thing because it creates more chaos, even with really good teams if they don’t have great leadership it can fall apart as mentioned by SlimySnake SlimySnake above

its doubly hard when it’s a brand new studio that hasn’t released anything
 
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nikolino840

Member
stop putting words in my mouth.

He’s being humble, we don’t know the impact of him leaving, but it’s generally not a good thing because it creates more chaos, even with really good teams if they don’t have great leadership it can fall apart as mentioned by SlimySnake SlimySnake above

its doubly hard when it’s a brand new studio that hasn’t released anything
James Sawyer Ford said:
but it just seems like his heart isn't into the project based on his comments and he's not wanting to devote the time and effort it'll take to see this through.

My english is bad,i thought you assumed the he didn't liked the project and he is leaving becouse is not worth of his time
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
but it just seems like his heart isn't into the project based on his comments and he's not wanting to devote the time and effort it'll take to see this through.

My english is bad,i thought you assumed the he didn't liked the project and he is leaving becouse is not worth of his time

that could still be part of it, we’ll never know. However i said that based on his tweets which were very vague about him not having the right “headspace” to continue. Not really sure how to interpret that but it does seem he’s not fully devoted to the project
 

nikolino840

Member
that could still be part of it, we’ll never know. However i said that based on his tweets which were very vague about him not having the right “headspace” to continue. Not really sure how to interpret that but it does seem he’s not fully devoted to the project
Maybe becouse of family problems? And he can't stay focused?
He written that the trailer gived him goosbumps and he want to play the game when comes out
 

odhiex

Member
There is no AAAA game
Hmm... That's weird, cause I've read so much news before about Microsoft building a new AAAA game studio and working on AAAA title.

 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Hmm... That's weird, cause I've read so much news before about Microsoft building a new AAAA game studio and working on AAAA title.


Yeah, this is the same studio. But what the other guy meant is that AAAA is just an obnoxious marketing term, and that there is no AAAA game in the world.

If games like God of War, TLOU2, RDR2, TW3, are termed as AAA, then, yes, I agree, there is no AAAA game, and I don't expect Perfect Dark to be one either with a team of ~60 people behind it.
 
That's a shame. Drew Murray is a talented guy & I was looking forward to seeing his work on Perfect Dark. Sunset Overdrive was great.

Personal health & wellbeing is more important than work though. People deal with the death of someone close to them in different ways. There are no rules to follow there. All the best to him.

I still think The Initiative is going to be an exciting development studio. MS are building an incredibly talented team. Maybe they won't knock it out the park first time but I do expect big things from them eventually.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Can't blame him. The demanding nature of game development and the toll it takes on personal life is well documented.

Perfect Dark will be fine. Ton of talented folks at the Initiative. No studio depends entirely on one guy, no matter how important.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
So he left his job?

I mean, that's horrible and I'm def not trying to sound uncompassionate, but I'm struggling to see how leaving your job can be the answer instead of just taking time off. Do US gaming companies not offer compassionate leave for situations like a bereavement?
Maybe he realised there more to life than making videogames????
 

Kimahri

Banned
My god at the assholes in this thread. He lost his damn brother, and he needs to focus on his personal life and all you can do is go on a personal opinion wank with "I sense his heart wasn't in it"?

Have some humanity. Not everything in this world is about your stupid, juvenile war over whether Xbox or PlayStation is the worst.
 
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MonarchJT

Banned
stop putting words in my mouth.

He’s being humble, we don’t know the impact of him leaving, but it’s generally not a good thing because it creates more chaos, even with really good teams if they don’t have great leadership it can fall apart as mentioned by SlimySnake SlimySnake above

its doubly hard when it’s a brand new studio that hasn’t released anything
james sawyer ford....casually highly negatively concerned about anything Xbox related? lol if we haven't read you for 10 years or more some might as well believe it)
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I think it's better this happens in the beginning of development rather than a point where you really deep into the cycle. Wish him luck and hope he has the opportunity now to take care of what's most important in his life.

Do we know who may be stepping into his shoes? That's the real question.
 

Dabaus

Banned
343: Has multiple high level studio heads leave or get fired.

The coalition: Rod Ferguson left (got fired) and the Multiplayer designer bailed as well.

Rare: Creative Director leaves

The Initiative: Studio director and face of the company leaves.

Microsoft cant manage their own internal studios but will turn struggling studios unto power houses. This is the company you want to buy more publishers and run the industry, after they just tried to DOUBLE how much it costs to play online? Ok.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Looks like Drew went back to Sony shortly after his departure from the initiative


He got over his brother's death pretty quick eh.

I guess it wasnt about that and he was just done working at that studio. This stuff happens all the time in this industry. A bunch of Sony devs left to work at Initiative and now they are leaving to go back to Sony studios. These guys know what they are worth and switching jobs get them great raises and benefits. There isnt really anything more to it than that.
 

JLB

Banned
343: Has multiple high level studio heads leave or get fired.

The coalition: Rod Ferguson left (got fired) and the Multiplayer designer bailed as well.

Rare: Creative Director leaves

The Initiative: Studio director and face of the company leaves.

Microsoft cant manage their own internal studios but will turn struggling studios unto power houses. This is the company you want to buy more publishers and run the industry, after they just tried to DOUBLE how much it costs to play online? Ok.

IRL: Employees are hired, fired and resign on every single company.
 
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