Two former Blizzard developers famous for their work on the Diablo series have formed a new game studio called Gas Giant Games. Though the new game studio has not announced its flagship project yet, it is staffed by veterans from Blizzard, BioWare, Epic Games, and more.Gas Giant Games is a new studio founded by Jay Wilson and Julian Love. Wilson was the controversial lead designer and later game director of Diablo 3 who also worked on World of Warcraft and Overwatch before leaving Blizzard in 2016. Love served as the lead technical artist for Diablo 3, the lead FX artist for the Diablo franchise, and was the senior combat designer for Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4 before leaving Blizzard in 2021.Wilson and Love serve as the design director and creative director respectively, and are joined by chairman Dan Kelly, former senior VP of business and development at THQ and director for Disney. The new game studio is growing fast, and already has veteran developers who have delivered AAA titles for Blizzard and several other major game publishers.
Some of the titles the Gas Giant Games development team have worked on include:
- Company of Heroes
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dawn of War
- Diablo 3 and Diablo Immortal, and the in-development sequel Diablo 4.
- Dragon Age 2
- Dying Light
- Gears of War 4 and 5
- Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
- Kingdom Hearts
- Overwatch
- Space Marine
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, and Legion
It seems Gas Giant Games is not yet ready to reveal its first project quite yet. According to its inaugural press release, a small group of publishers and investors will get their first look at the game in a private demonstration during the Game Developers Conference in late March. Gas Giant Games is not ready to reveal concrete details yet, but Wilson confirmed the game would be an action-RPG with visceral combat, engaging progression, and a unique survival experience. The studio is developing its first project for PC and consoles, though it is considering mobile platforms as well.
This is not the first video game studio to spawn from former Blizzard talent. Dreamhaven, Lightforge Games, and Notorious Studios are three of many that have formed in recent years. Similarly-named Frost Giant Studios is another, whose in-development RTS game Stormgate seeks to be a spiritual successor to StarCraft. With Gas Giant Games likely to be heavily-influenced by Diablo, it seems Blizzard fans might soon have several games made by familiar developers inspired by their favorite AAA games.
Source: Gas Giant Games