Jar of Sparks, the studio founded by former Halo Infinite developer Jerry Hook, has stopped work on its upcoming game as it parts ways with publisher NetEase.
As reported by Pure Xbox, Hook made a LinkedIn post on the Jar of Sparks profile which explains that work on its in-development title is being put on hold as the company searches for "a new publishing partner who can help bring our creative vision to life," so it's no longer working with NetEase, the developer and publisher of Marvel Rivals and Naraka: Bladepoint.
Hook writes that "our talented team members will be exploring new opportunities." It's unclear if this means people have been laid off due to the issue or if they'll still be employed and are just being encouraged to look elsewhere.
We've reached out to Jar of Sparks for clarification. Jar of Sparks was founded in 2022 by Hook, who worked on Halo Infinite and with Bungie, Paul Crocker, lead narrative director for the Batman: Arkham trilogy, Greg Stone, a producer on Doom 2016, and Steve Dyck, who's worked on the Halo series, SSX, and NBA Street.
The studio's goal "is to create a new generation of narrative-driven action games in a new world," Hook said. "We have built games for some of the biggest companies in gaming, and now it's time to take a shot at putting our own personal lightning in a bottle.