When people earn a name for themselves in this industry, they often want to branch out and go their own way.
Such is the case for former Infinity Ward creative strategist, Robert Bowling. After suddenly resigning his post last month, Bowling is opening his own studio , Robotoki.
Apparently, this decision was made "immediately after" he quit his long-time position with Activision, and he said the new development studio's primary goal is to put the team first and everything else is secondary. There may be a hint as to the reason behind his leaving when he says, "I believe as an industry, we have a lot to learn about how to treat talent." He goes on to say that gaming is progressing in the artistic areas, but the industry is failing to "properly inspire and support our creative talent."
Robotoki will be "completely self-funded" and will only partner with those who support that model. Said Bowling:
"I wanted to create an environment where the creative vision holders held complete control over their work and could guide and maintain it from concept to execution."
The studio's first project won't be revealed until later this year, but we know it's scheduled to arrive for "next-gen consoles, PC and mobile devices." Bowling added that he wants to create the "universe first, experiences second, and game mechanics last," which sounds just a tad frightening from a design standpoint. "Man, this world is awesome, the atmosphere is awesome…but damn, these controls suck ." …just kidding, Robert.
But we really like this part:
"Our focus is creating an experience that is no longer strictly single player, strictly co-op, or strictly multiplayer, but adapting the strengths of each of these into a unique experience that is fueled by the actions and contributions in each."
No further comment besides- Good luck. And we do mean that.
