Naughty Dog vet Straley introduces new studio Wildflower Interactive

pcgamesinsider.biz:

Former Naughty Dog staffer Bruce Straley has unveiled a brand new games company.

Taking to Twitter, the Uncharted alum revealed Wildflower Interactive, a new venture that will focus on "small-ish" games, per the developer's website. Straley previously worked at Naughty Dog for 18 years, contributing to hits like the Jak and Daxter franchise, The Last of Us and Uncharted. He departed the studio in 2017, leaving the games industry entirely.

“But the longer I was away, I kept thinking about this medium, and everything yet to be done and everything I wanted to do still. And this idea kept following me," Straley said in a video announcing the studio.

“So, I grabbed some friends and we started prototyping. And the idea started getting good. It started becoming exciting again. And I realised, I need to make this game. But if I’m going to make this game it means I have to build a team. And if I build a team, I have to build a company. And, well if we’re going to do that, then we have to do it the right way.

“It has to be inclusive, equitable and collaborative. Full of big-hearted people that want to grow both professionally and personally. The culture needs to be as iterative as the way we make games.”

Some of the staff that Wildflower has already attracted some Naughty Dog vets, including animator Almudena Soria, game designers Nicholas Lance and Douglas Holder, as well as producer Vivian Alcala. There's also programmer Ole Ciliox, formerly of IO Interactive, Deep Silver Volition vet Arno Azar who is working as a level designer and programmer Cosmo Fumo, formerly of Giant Squid.