Activision has announced on its blog today that it is forming Elsewhere Entertainment, a new studio that will focus on a new narrative-based “genre-defining” AAA franchise. We don’t know what that franchise will be, nor what genre it will be defining, but we do know it will be headquartered in Warsaw, Poland.
Activision states that the developer will be “built from the ground up” and will establish “an environment that inspires bold and diverse ideas.” The team will consist of “storytelling experts” who have worked on such franchises as “The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Far Cry.” That’s a lot of storytelling experts.
It’s hard not to be cynical about a studio established by a company whose parent just shut down a handful of talented studios. It sounds like, “Why are you buying a Mercedes when you just defaulted on your last car loan?”
“Elsewhere is opening its search for best-in-class talent from across the industry,” the release says. Yeah, I think you might know a few people who are now looking for work.
I know that it’s never quite that simple, but it just seems really galling for Activision to trumpet its founding of a AAA studio so soon while Microsoft keeps making huge cuts across its subsidiaries.
Hopefully, Elsewhere Entertainment will do well. I don’t know what “narrative-based” means to an executive and “genre-defining” is nothing but PR speak, but at least I don’t see the words “live service.”
