Former Halo Dev Forms New Studio Jar of Sparks

gamerant.com:

Jerry Hook has founded a new AAA game studio, Jar of Sparks, along with a team of developers from a variety of high-profile franchises. In an interview with IGN, the 343 Industries veteran discussed some of the studio's goals, future plans, and creative philosophy.

Jerry Hook is an «Xbox Live founding veteran» as he states in his Twitter bio, with an impressive career dating back to 2003 managing Xbox Live in its early days. Hook worked on Halo 4 andHalo 5 before parting with Microsoft in 2015 and joining Bungie to work on the Destiny franchise. Although he would eventually return to Microsoft and 343 Industries as Head of Design for Halo Infinite, he left the studio once more in March 2022 to «relax and recharge,» while teasing «Next Saga coming soon» on LinkedIn. It appears that the next saga he mentioned involves the founding of a brand-new AAA studio.

Halo Veteran Developer Joins 343 Industries to Work on Halo Infinite

Hook's new studio is called Jar of Sparks and its mission is «to create a new generation of narrative-driven action games in a new world.» Founding team members include Paul Crocker, lead narrative director of theBatman: Arkham trilogy and associate creative director of 343 Industries, Greg Stone, producer for Halo Wars 2, Halo infinite, and Doom (2016), and Steve Dyck, who worked on SSX, NBA Street, Halo 4 and Halo 5. There's a lot of career overlap within the studio consisting of people who have likely worked closely together in the past, an important advantage for a small team intent on delivering AAA-quality games.

Hook estimates that the studio's first game is at least three-to-four years away, but insists that the game will not be a live-service game. Although Hook has had a long career working with