Activision has announced a brand new studio called Elsewhere Entertainment. Based in Poland, the studio consists of industry vets who’ve worked on games like The Last of Us and The Witcher.
In a blog post on its official website, Activision says that Elsewhere, which is an internal development studio, is currently hard at work on “a new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise”.
The company also says Elsewhere’s new franchise will create “an enduring legacy that resonates far beyond games”, potentially suggesting that multimedia projects based on said franchise could also be in the works.
According to Activision, Elsewhere’s staffers have worked on franchises like “The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Far Cry“.
Since the announcement is relatively brief, it’s not clear exactly which staffers Elsewhere has on board from those franchises, nor do we know how they’re contributing to the studio’s inaugural project.
However, we do know that Elsewhere will have “full access to Activision’s resources” as it “continues to increase production and development”, and that the studio is “opening its search for best-in-class talent”.
Obviously, Elsewhere’s debut game isn’t ready to reveal yet, but we may well learn more about it in the coming months.
Elsewhere’s formation comes as Activision’s parent company Microsoft finds itself under the microscope for what many consider to be its questionable recent decisions.
Recently, Microsoft shut down Redfall creator Arkane Austin and Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks, as well as two other studios, shortly before declaring that the Xbox brand needed “smaller games” to garner prestige and awards.
Those decisions were made following a round of layoffs that saw Microsoft letting go of almost 2,000 employees. There’s probably a lot of number-crunching we’re not seeing behind the scenes, but Activision opening a new studio in the wake of all of that seems…interesting.
We’ll have to wait and see what Elsewhere Entertainment comes up with for its first game. Stay tuned for more.
