Microsoft’s The Initiative Hires God of War’s Senior Level Designer

In 2018, Microsoft announced the formation of a new first-party studio called The Initiative, which would supposedly have a “AAAA” development team working on something great. The team at The Initiative just added some talent that might just send it in the right direction toward greatness, as it has brought on Chris O’Neill, Senior Staff Level Designer for last year’s God of War.

As development ramps up for The Initiative’s upcoming game, it has been snatching up game designers across the industry. This included some former members of Naughty Dog, Rockstar Games, and Crystal Dynamics. O’Neill was brought on earlier in January 2019, hopefully in order to put together some incredible levels for the team.

God of War, a game that received critical praise in 2018, has some memorable levels that O’Neill helped to create. If The Initiative is gathering designers with these sorts of track records, there might be something to that “AAAA” statement made by Microsoft. It’s unclear how far along The Initiative’s game is, but it will likely be ready for the next generation of hardware.

After the success of God of War, Santa Monica Studios might be working on a sequel. Hopefully, whomever O’Neill passes the torch to will help deliver a product that is on par with 2018’s game. The future is looking quite fascinating, and it could be interesting to see the future projects from both Santa Monica Studios and Microsoft’s The Initiative.

[Source: Twisted Voxel]