God of War Senior Environment Artist joins Microsoft's 'The Initiative' studio

The Initiative is Microsoft's "AAAA" studio that's tasked with creating quality experiences. It's based in Santa Monica and the team keeps on growing. A lot of Sony Santa Monica developers have made the jump, but another one recently joined the team, too.

[Vasto]

So much talent in this studio its crazy.

Microsoft doing damage! LOL

[_SilverHawk_]

I wonder why it's a big deal when anyone from playstation like a janitor leaves to start some job at xbox but no one cares when a Microsoft xbox employee joins sony playstation. Playstation studios are seen as quality and that's why even the big xbox reps like to congratulate anyone that worked at playstation to come work at xbox. It says a lot about the reputation of playstation dev teams. The best development team Microsoft had was bungie and they messed that up. The xbox doesnt have a great development studio and I think majority are all mediocre. They dont have any great studios on the level of a naughty dog, guerrilla games, insomniac, sony Santa Monica and a few others.

Biggest game franchises xbox has are gears and halo but Microsoft wasted opportunities to nurture them and make them bigger. Those games always improved upon the last entries but Microsoft just wasted opportunities by making mediocre to rubbish sequels

[Vasto]

Microsoft is just on another level.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Obscure_Observer]

@_SilverHawk_

"I wonder why it's a big deal when anyone from playstation like a janitor leaves to start some job at xbox but no one cares when a Microsoft xbox employee joins sony playstation."

Calm down, dude. He did not left Santa Monica for The Initiative. He was working at DICE before joining TI.

The only reason Santa Monica is mentioned is because he´d work for Sony for nine years and his latest great achievement is God of War.

The title and headline is kind of misleading tbh.

That said, its good to see that MS has no intention and stop hiring big name talents and empower even more their first party studios.

Great job, Xbox Team! Keep´em comming! :)

[_SilverHawk_]

"Calm down, dude. He did not left Santa Monica for The Initiative. He was working at DICE before joining TI.

The only reason Santa Monica is mentioned is because he´d work for Sony for nine years and his latest great achievement is God of War.

That said, its good to see that MS has no intention and stop hiring big name talents and empower even more their first party studios."

Aren't you further proving my point that it's more important that he was working with a sony first party studio at some point and then he joined Microsoft xbox years later. People should also realize that xbox has had a lot more development studios than playstation for a number of years but got rid of a lot of them. Majority of xbox game studios now are mediocre to rubbish

[Lennoxb63]

Bruh, this is common on both sides. Devs usually go to almost any AAA studio thats hiring.

[Kiwi66]

There has been articles about microsoft employees leaving and joining Sony studios so you just seem mad that a Microsoft studio has another person join one of their studios

[Sitdown]

@_SilverHawk_
"I wonder why it's a big deal when anyone from playstation like a janitor leaves to start some job at xbox but no one cares when a Microsoft xbox employee joins sony playstation."

1)The article links to a tweet by a user not even verified. Pretty sure that does qualify as not deal.
2) You ask why it's a big deal, then go on a rant about PlayStation's question. Wouldn't that essentially be the answer to your question.
3) Unless you have stock in Sony or on their payroll, you probably should just stop back a little.

[_SilverHawk_]

Naughty dog, sony Santa Monica, sucker punch, insomniac, guerilla games. Can someone name xbox studios that are on the level of these sony playstation studios and a great game they made. I understand the disagreements will come but I smile when people disagree because of their emotions without a rebuttal which means they lose. The xbox doesnt have anything bigger than gears and halo which have been mediocre with past couple entries. The xbox 360 was great at first but turnt to rubbish halfway through its generation and a lot of fanat-X still live and think like its 15 years ago and reminisce about that time of the past. There is not one exclusive game I can consider being great on xbox one. Microsoft exec's used to brag about how one halo or gears would sell more than all sony playstation exclusives combined but these days those games barely sells.

[Godmars290]

"I wonder why it's a big deal when anyone from playstation like a janitor leaves to start some job at xbox but no one cares when a Microsoft xbox employee joins sony playstation."

You literally answer your own question.

Or rather, look at where MS actually are as far as gaming is concerned, not where their own hype places them.

@Obscure_Observer:
"That said, its good to see that MS has no intention and stop hiring big name talents and empower even more their first party studios."

And, for the nth time at this point, MS has to show results. That they've overcome issues that largely make them a joke to anyone but Xbox fan boys. They have to show that despite all the noise, they can do more than multiplayer.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Damn you really are pissed about this news ain’t ya? Lol

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Silver Sony does this and that MS does that and this and blah, blah blah yadda, yadda, yadda cry, cry, cry.

Call your doctor and tell him your losing sleep and having a meltdown yet again over a positive MS article.

[DiRtY]

Cry is free.

[gamer7804]

It was a huge deal and all over twitter when Mike Ybarra went to blizzard at the end of this year. That said microsoft does alot more hiring than sony does in general and especially now that they are growing studios so thats why you see it slightly more often when someone from sony leaves and joins MS.

[battlegrog]

I wonder why any sony fan boy has to play everything down that ms does but cum all over the place when they hear generic shit like sony is working on improving its audio.Something MS already focused on last gen. Try being a little bit more mature instead of posting petty remarks to get yourself through the day

[akbennyewu]

Wow Silverhawk, everyone hates you.

That's gotta feel nice right now around the holidays! Hahahahahhaha

[Obscure_Observer]

@Godmars290

"That they've overcome issues that largely make them a joke to anyone but Xbox fan boys."

Real gamers will enjoy GAMES regardless the brand. Microsoft don´t have to do nothing to please you!

You don´t care about Xbox and never will. You call Xbox a joke but can´t help yourself and simple mind your business playing on the platform you love. No, you have to show up on every positive Xbox article to troll and downplay.

[deno]

I'm happy developers have a big enough industry for job opportunities. Many talented people in the game industry.

[itsmebryan]

Is this person a janitor? What's your point. Why do you care enough to post on a Xbox article?

[sampsonon]

yeah, they will get him straight to those A and AA games lol

[DaDrunkenJester]

Except The Initiative is boasting working on a "AAAA" game. Sounds like stupid budget bolstering, but no way they are working on anything less than a AAA

[Razmiran]

Big budget mediocrity will still be mediocrity

[sampsonon]

@DaDrunkenJester:

as soon as the first AAA game flops MS will axe the budget for the xbox division and fire Phil.
I find that xbox gamers don't really support anything but the top three.
that is why gamepass was created.

sad

[Gunstar75]

Don't cry

[sampsonon]

@Gunstar75:

cry? lol
2020 Ghost of Tsushma and The Last Of Us 2.
cry?
lol

what does XBX have in 2020? oh wait! another controller.

[Doge]

Calm down children.

[Abodenn]

Makes you wonder when will they start rolling out games though? 4? 5 years from now? What will they sell us with the Series X? Grounded? I bet those 12TF will come handy for that. Oh yes there's Halo too. Pew pew.....

[FanboySpotter]

Grounded comes out before next gen. This spring in fact. This is what happens when you're a die hard fanboy of a plastic box- lose track of what is really going on. And initiative's game is and has been playable already don't be surprised if theres atleast some teaser next year

[DaDrunkenJester]

Halo, Forza, Everwild, Playground AAA RPG I'd say will definitely be at launch/launch window.

[Abodenn]

@FanboySpotter Are you seriously calling me a fanboy half-wit? I game on everything and have been from day 1 when gaming begun. I have been in the industry for more than 25 years and there is very little I am not aware of. I was being sarcastic you moron. I have very good knowledge on what's going on with both Xbox and PlayStation.

[ardenn]

@DaDrunkenJester Neither Everwild nor Playground's RPG will be at launch. Halo and Forza, yes, but we have been getting Forzas time and time again. They're good and all but they're still racing games. Where are the AAA single player games for next-gen? Games of the same caliber as God of War, The Last of Us, Spider-Man. They better start showing more on next-gen soon. PlayStation hasn't shown anything yet either, but we do know more or less what is coming from them as well as that they can deliver what the fans expect from them. Xbox has a lot to prove. They have the studios, they have the console. Do they have the vision? Building up hype and anticipation throughout the year is the best approach. The PlayStation event is in February and we will be getting a pretty good idea of their next-gen offerings then. Xbox should follow suit. The Series X reveal was both smart and well timed and revealing the console with Hellblade 2 instead of more Halo, Gears or Forza was equally as smart. Regardless, what I feel matters most is not whether they have tons of games ready for launch but rather that they show us more of next-gen soon. Demonstrating that these are the kind of games you will be getting on our all powerful next-gen console. Console experiences of a level of quality that you will not be able to get anywhere else except on the Series X.

[BizarroUltraman]

@DaDrunkenJester,
How is Everwild launch window? it was announced to be early stages of development🤔Facts

[DaDrunkenJester]

@Arden

True, Everwild and Hellblade 2 likely wont be until 2022. Playground Games RPG could hit early 2021 since they have been on that for 2 or 3 years now.

I believe we will be seeing an announcement
of the Initiates game in 2020. We know Obsidian is working on a AAA RPG.

Remember, the PS4 didn't come out swinging with big games right away either. It took then a couple years into its life to start pumping out their bigger hits.

MS has some high quality studios and has the means to launch a steady amount of 1st party games. Let's just hope the quality is MUCH better than what we got in Xbox One.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Does it matter how long? Dreams was announced back in 2013, and where is it? TLoU2 was announced in 2016, and where is it?

[TheDude42]

@FanboySpotter why did they just hire an environmental expert then something must not be working right. There whole super squad seems like a publicity stunt. They own obsidian now 1 of the kings of RPGs. If they gave them fable I might buy an xbox

[Abodenn]

@Sophisticated_Chap Yes it matters how long. Microsoft just acquired these studios. They will need a good 3-4 years before they start rolling out huge AAA games. That will be almost halfway through the next-gen. PlayStation may have announced The Last of Us Part II back in 2016 but they had God of War, Spider-Man and other incredible experiences coming in the meantime. Regardless, we are talking next-gen here and the fact that Xbox needs to win back the fans. Personally I would be happy if they just revealed a few of their next-gen games soon enough. Even if it takes them a couple of years more to deliver. Show us what we'll be getting if we invest in your system and subscribe to your services.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Abodenn

Pretty sure almost every single new first party Xbox studio will have their new games out before Naughty Dog´s first next gen game hits the PS5.

"What will they sell us with the Series X? Grounded? I bet those 12TF will come handy for that."

Grounded is an Xbox One game. If the SX turn out to be 12TF and the PS5 only 9.2TF, Sony´s console will be nothing but another iterative console in dusguise, a PS4 Pro 2.

[Soulrakk]

The Initiatives game has already been confirmed to be revealed this coming year. It's already in a playable state. Confirmed. There's also already been games shown to be released next year as well. Not to mention still a long way to go for more info to come out. Can't wait for E3.

[MasterCornholio]

@Obscure

"Sony´s console will be nothing but another iterative console in dusguise, a PS4 Pro 2."

Nah it won't be anything like a PS4 Pro 2. Rumors stated that the original plan was to release the PS5 in 2019 and use an updated Jaguar CPU with the system. But Sony made the decision to delay the release so they can include hardware with a more modern CPU and Hardware based Ray Tracing. The PS5 isnt going to be an updated PS4 Pro like your claiming. Ryan will prove you wrong like he did last time. It's going to be funny to see your reaction when the PS5 is alot more powerful than the Pro.

If anything is close to the Pro it will be the rumored Xbox Series S.

[BizarroUltraman]

Wheres the damage? They haven't even started making the game yet.....🤣 I like Xbox but the pressure for these devs to deliver for them is F'ing crazy and good luck to them cause they gonna need it.

[MrVux000]

Hopefully next year you will start producing higher quality bait.

All the best!

[ScootaKuH]

Microsoft isn't doing anything yet. Wait to see what the team create first

[tagzskie]

The only thing MS can do damage is if they make games game of the year contender that can only be play only on xbox or windows 10 at least for me. Game console is all about games after all. A game that anyone choose xbox instead to the competition.

[leoms]

What damage? They already released a game?

[bluefox755]

I don't think Microsoft's game problem has to do with talent. It's not like they're unwilling to spend money, they can afford the best. I think their problem comes with management, and being too hands on with their developers rather than giving them creative freedom. Creative freedom is a risky proposition for shareholders, or at least that's the general perception.

[isarai]

"AAAA" is such a dumb buzzword lol, but this is probably the studio grom MS i have the biggest interest in. Just seems to be MSs biggest effort by far for a major studio, they just really seem to be dumping a lot into this specific studio and im curious to see what comes out of that.

[FanboySpotter]

AAAA has been used in the past already

[Abodenn]

Are you seriously calling me a fanboy half-wit? I game on everything and have been from day 1 when gaming begun. I have been in the industry for more than 25 years and there is very little I am not aware of. I was being sarcastic you moron. I have very good knowledge on what's going on with both Xbox and PlayStation.

[livinunicorns]

You are a very special kind of moron indeed.

[FanboySpotter]

Since I can't edit. AAAA really has been used in the past. So I don't get the disagrees I got lol all you gotta do is google "AAAA quality game(s)" and you'll see how old talk of AAAA is.

[RazzerRedux]

"all you gotta do is google "AAAA quality game(s)" and you'll see how old talk of AAAA is."

Google "AAAA games" and you see a ton of references to Microsoft hiring for a "AAAA" studio. This isn't "old talk". This Microsoft talk.

[Specter229]

@abodenn ... why did you need to repeat that on this comment?

[Abodenn]

@Specter229 So that he would get the message. He accused me of being a fanboy because my stance on something did no sit well with him. I simply explained that I have been in the industry for years and I have no preference on any platform holder. I play and enjoy gaming regardless of platform. Whatever my feelings or frustrations might be towards a company, I do not discard them or give up on them. I do sometimes express my disappointment but that is in good faith. Yes, I would prefer if Microsoft handled a few things differently regarding the Xbox brand and their approach to gaming, but I am quite optimistic about the Series X/S and next-gen. I am, however, as I said somewhat disappointed about a few things regarding their approach. Things that some might not realize or be aware of, or how they could impact both the Xbox brand and the industry.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

I have a very hard time seeing MS giving a budget that's of Star Citizen lvls of expensive to brand new studio. Huge budgeted games has a chance at failure because they're giving more money than what to do with. Look at No Man Sky or Aliens.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Those two examples don't even make sense.

[Saijahn]

Bad examples. We’re talking about Phil knowing their weakness is big budget games and deciding to be consumer friendly and dumping money into their very own huge studio. Even with other acquisitions, it’s clear, MS has money to burn.

I’m excited to see what they come out with.

[leoms]

Maybe gamepass filler.

[TheRealTedCruz]

And potentially a masterpiece, considering the talent involved. Something like Outer Worlds was also on gamepass, day one.

[2pacalypsenow]

Whats a AAAA studio?

Is Microsoft making up new names again?

[isarai]

Just a buzzword, typical PR gibberish

[Lennoxb63]

MS didn't make it up.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Does AAAA refer to studios like Rock * or studios that can work on multiple AAA games at once ?

[ReadyPlayer22]

It just means stupidly expensive. Their devs were talking about the tech that they're getting from nearby Hollywood for high fidelity Ray tracing and animation capture. That's not cheap.

[FanboySpotter]

You're the only here that gets it

[2pacalypsenow]

Yeah and it’s called a AAA game.

Call Of Duty MW 2 is the most expensive game ever made.

Does Activition call it a AAAA game?

[CaptainHenry916]

@2Pac
Lol yup 😂😂😂. Hilarious

[DiRtY]

It is a buzzword, but not invented by MS.
Heck, that is even the name of the Metro developers. http://www.4a-games.com.mt/

[RazzerRedux]

Their name is 4A Games. Not AAAA Games.

[DiRtY]

Have you counted the As in there?

[RazzerRedux]

Is the name of this site ngggg.com? According to you it is the same thing.