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Best known for being the director God of War 1 and 2 and the Twisted Metal series, in 2012 David Jaffe put together a new team called The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency. The idea is that ghost hunter Bartlet Jones and David Jaffe founded the studio after going on a supernatural expedition together.

Naturally, with a spookily themed backstory and some creepy dev diaries from the team, many believed that Barltet Jones' first game would be supernatural too. And, with the team mostly made up of former Sony staffers, it was likely that it would be a PlayStation exclusive.

These theories have come to an end thanks to David Jaffe himself, who announced live on stage at the PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas today that their very first project, Drawn To Death - A hand-drawn arena shooter coming to PS4.

Greenlit 18 months ago by Scott Rohde, the PlayStation Software Product Development Head for Sony Worldwide Studios America, Drawn To Death is being developed by both Bartlet Jones and Sony San Diego. The game combines hand drawn graphics with frenetic third person shooting to deliver "an arena shooter like you've never played before," according to Jaffe.

Drawn To Death logo

Drawn To Death could deliver on that uniqueness though, as the entire game takes place in a "very creative" teenager's notebook. As a result, players will be treated to a "violent and bizarre landscape filled with all of the weird, amazing, passionate, and exciting fantasies that are swimming around in the head of our teenage artist." Judging by the pre-alpha gameplay footage, that includes kills via pencil stabs and being attacked by various giant, angry monsters.

We also know that those 'exciting fantasies' are subject to change. Although the Bartlet Jones dev team aims to have Drawn To Death's Four-Player Free For All Deathmatch mode to be "action packed" and for players to master the environment and learn their enemies' weaknesses, Jaffe explains that the game "will be in continual development," suggesting lots of post-release content. Even at the PlayStation Experience event, attendees will be allowed to play the current version then sit with Jaffe and the devs to give feedback and suggestions to help shape development.

Furthermore, Jaffe also described the game's Deathmatch mode as their "signature launch mode," seeming to suggest that Drawn To Death will even be getting more game modes too and that it may not launch as a traditional full retail release. It's not hard to imagine that at some point in time they'll offer new modes that allow for more players on the battlefield.

Drawn To Death characters

Jaffe further explains that we'll find out more about the game "in the coming weeks and months," info that will hopefully reveal more about those four characters in the trailer and whether they are fixed options or if players will be able to customize their own. Many will also want to know if Drawn To Death will be a free-to-play title like so many other arena battle games. Though, free-to-play seems unlikely given that Sony San Diego is already working on Kill Strain, a free-to-play multiplayer game of their own.

Until we get that info though, Jaffe encourages people to visit the Drawn To Death website to sign up for early access to the game, private access to the developer forums (once they launch) and a free Drawn To Death wallpaper too.

Source: PlayStation Blog