Game industry vets come together to form a new studio, That's No Moon

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: A who’s who of veteran game developers have come together to create a new studio looking to do big things. They might not be household names, but each has a storied history in the gaming industry and brings a lot to the table.

That’s No Moon is founded by Michael Mumbauer, Tina Kowalewski, Taylor Kurosaki and Nick Kononelos.

Mumbauer, the new studio’s chief executive, previously served as the director of the visual starts studio at Sony Computer Entertainment America. Kowalewski used to lead product development at Sony Santa Monica, and will serve as chief strategy officer with That’s No Moon.

Kurosaki formerly worked at Infinity Ward as studio narrative director and was among the earliest members of Naughty Dog. Kononelos previously spent time as a senior development director at Electronic Arts, where he worked on titles like Madden NFL and Need for Speed. He also served as a senior manager of production at PlayStation and had a hand in games like The Last of Us, Uncharted and God of War.

While mum on details, That’s No Moon said its debut project will be an ambitious AAA single-player, third-person action-adventure game. Given the studio’s name (a famous quote from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), some believe the mystery game in question could be a new entry in the Star Wars franchise.

Whatever the case, they’ll have a sizable war chest from the get go as Smilegate Entertainment has invested $100 million into the new studio. The South Korean developer is best known for CrossFire, a first-person shooter from 2007 that remains popular to this day.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/90588-game-industry-vets-come-together-form-new-studio.html

 

[VitalyT]

Old-school gamers - all under one roof

Problem with most talent - they are independent thinkers, and not great at teamwork. So if you put so many of them together, who's to say they won't end up fighting each other?

 

[ypsylon]

100M that's not some exceptionally large budget for a studio. Especially as highly paid as those folks which don't work for peanuts. Newbies you can "simply" exploit. People with established brand (names) cost a lot of money.

 

[VitalyT]

100M that's not some exceptionally large budget for a studio.

Enough to hold a few parties and then call it a day. Maybe for the better.

 

[m4a4]

100M that's not some exceptionally large budget for a studio. Especially as highly paid as those folks which don't work for peanuts. Newbies you can "simply" exploit. People with established brand (names) cost a lot of money.

Well, depends on the size of the studio (and I doubt they'll handicap themselves early on). For 100 people working, that'll get them about 10-15 years. For 1000 people, well, yeah won't go very far...

 

[Kosmoz]

100M that's not some exceptionally large budget for a studio. Especially as highly paid as those folks which don't work for peanuts. Newbies you can "simply" exploit. People with established brand (names) cost a lot of money.

It's a new studio, 100m is more than enough for a good starter game. There are games with half that budget that can be considered AAA ones in quality, not many, but there are.

If they wanted more $$$ they would have stayed at the bigger studios, but they moved because they want to have freedom of creativity, so even if initially they won't make as much $$$ as before, if they succeed they have only to gain from this move.

 

[Watzupken]

Having a bunch of vets don't always translate to a great product in my opinion. It sounds like a great idea, but depending on the person leading, each tend to run their own way based on their own experience.

 

[Digitalzone]

They should name it better - Expendables.

 

[mbrowne5061]

100M that's not some exceptionally large budget for a studio. Especially as highly paid as those folks which don't work for peanuts. Newbies you can "simply" exploit. People with established brand (names) cost a lot of money.

They may have been executives long enough that they no longer need/care about the salary as much as they do stock options. If they've been promised a good slice of equity, that certainly could convince big names to sign on for smaller salaries. But this is speculation on my part.

If the 'Star Wars RPG' speculation is correct, I know I would rather own a slice of the company that makes it, over receiving a salary.

 

[Danny101]

Well, good luck to them. Maybe we'll a new quality IP out of this troop.

 

[Nestea]

They may have been executives long enough that they no longer need/care about the salary as much as they do stock options. If they've been promised a good slice of equity, that certainly could convince big names to sign on for smaller salaries. But this is speculation on my part.

If the 'Star Wars RPG' speculation is correct, I know I would rather own a slice of the company that makes it, over receiving a salary.

is ubi still making their star wars?

 

[GamerNerves]

Star Wars games always spark my interest, but somehow I'm never convinced when "pros" are grouped together under the same roof. Making good games certainly requires talented individuals, but also good management and decisive creative direction. I feel some newer games lack the latter.

Here's a better name for the studio, how about "No Moon".