A group of former Ubisoft developers have just announced the creation of a brand-new independent game studio. Called Dark Ritual Studios, this new developer says it’s “embracing the opposite approach” to Ubisoft when it comes to crafting games.
The recent formation of Dark Ritual Studios comes shortly after a recent round of layoffs at Ubisoft Barcelona, in which a total of 51 employees lost their jobs. Ubisoft Barcelona was one of the key studios behind the recently released Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which earned a Top Critic Average of 84 on OpenCritic, making it the highest-rated game in the franchise since the original Black Flag in 2013.
Former Ubisoft Barcelona Devs Found Dark Ritual Studios
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Image via Ubisoft -
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Image via Ubisoft
On August 10, Dark Ritual Studios officially announced its formation via a GamesIndustry.biz interview. This new Barcelona-based studio is being led by Myles Kerwin, who spoke with the outlet about the team’s reasons for opening a new studio, and how the team is approaching video game design in the wake of leaving Ubisoft.
Kerwin states that working at Ubisoft showed the team “how difficult it can be to stay agile,” and that one of the primary reasons for founding a small indie team was to ensure that “ideas can move quickly from discussion to implementation.” Kerwin continues to peel back the curtain on working at Ubisoft Barcelona, stating that his experience has “reinforced a belief” that “great games don’t necessarily require enormous teams,” and that AAA development can actually slow the creative process due to the countless moving parts involved when multiple studios are working on the same project.
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Instead of falling into the same trap, Dark Ritual Studios is “embracing the opposite approach,” instead aiming to remain a “small, experienced team with clear creative ownership, faster decision-making, and a focus on craftsmanship over scale.” With this philosophy at the forefront, Dark Ritual Studios has reportedly already acquired funding for its first game, Puzzle Mage, which has already received over 1,000 wishlists on Steam. According to its Steam page, Puzzle Mage will be a top-down dark fantasy point-and-click puzzle game that will see players ascend a magical tower filled with unique spell-based environmental puzzles.
In terms of future plans, Dark Ritual studio head Myles Kerwin confirms that the team is not currently seeking additional investment, and that they’re “evaluating whether self-publishing or partnering with a publisher is the right long-term strategy.” Additionally, Kerwin addresses the difficulties of founding a brand-new studio in an incredibly turbulent time for the entire gaming industry, explaining that the developer’s strategy “is to keep our team lean, our scope realistic, and our budgets under control.”
But while they agree that every studio is facing challenges, Kerwin does state that the industry has seen “many independent studios build successful, sustainable businesses by focusing on well-executed games with clear identities,” and that this is the model Dark Ritual Studios is aiming to repeat. Though Kerwin doesn’t explicitly say it, one of these recent indie gaming success stories was Sandfall Interactive, itself a new studio founded by ex-Ubisoft developers that delivered last year’s breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
