Playground Games Hires Talent from Ninja Theory, EA Motive, Rocksteady, BioWare, and More

Whatever Playground Games is working on, it’s going to be big. Big, as in large, as in huge. Last year, upon opening its second studio to work on a still unannounced, open-world RPG project, the company hired top-shelf talent from big teams, including people who worked on GTA V, Metal Gear Solid, and Hellblade. According to a report from Games Industry, a second wave of major hires has come through, which includes talent from studios like BioWare, Rocksteady, EA Motive, and more.

The first hire is principal environment artist Scotty Brown. He last worked at EA Motive on Star Wars Battlefront II. Next is lead environment artist Noel Lukasewich, who was at BioWare for 13 years. Most of that was spent on all four Mass Effect games. Martin Lancaster comes from Rocksteady as a narrative director, and he worked on Batman: Arkham Knight and Arkham VR.

From Ninja Theory comes principal animator Chris Goodall and lead technician Rob den Dekker. Goodall has been at Ninja Theory since 2009, and Dekker has an additional history with the Fable series, LittleBigPlanet and Forza Horizon 2. Lastly, lead UI artist Joe McKernan is making a return to the studio after leaving for a few years. He worked on the Forza Horizon series before leaving, and during that gap worked on Horizon Zero Dawn and Destiny 2.

Whatever this game ends up being, it’s going to have a lot of muscle behind it. As we know, Microsoft announced its purchase of Playground Games at E3 2018, along with the likes of Ninja Theory and others as part of big efforts to bring exclusive games to the Xbox One family.

[Source: Games Industry]

Now Loading Games to Defend

Annette Polis

Dead or Alive Xtreme series

Despite appearances, the DOA Xtreme games are more than just something for pervs to stare at in hopes of someday seeing a real girl. There's the competitive nature of the matches themselves, the way it fills my obsessive desire to collect every single item, and those pool games are great for hand-eye coordination. The only thing I will not defend is Marie Rose. They left Tina out for her?!?!
Blake Grundman

Peggle

I will go to my grave defending this glorious ball of concentrated happiness. It has been my “happy place” game since I first played it on an iPod Video.

Everything from the genuine physics challenges to the perfect choice of ‘Ode to Joy’ after clearing a stage is the epitome of amazing game design.
Cameron Teague

White Knight Chronicles

Yes, I could have gone the easy route and gone with Suikoden 3, but I wanted to change it up a bit. White Knight Chronicles was given a short rope by some people and it's really unfortunate. Yea, the story was not the greatest, but the combat was solid and it had a really fun online mechanic that I think would work wonders on the PS4.
Chandler Wood

Destiny, and by extension, Destiny 2

Look, I understand why people may not be into it, but for me, the thousands of hours I've poured into playing the series (and that doesn't include all of the events, research, and writing about it), and the amazing friends I've made along the way are more than enough for me to tell people to step off. The hate train is a tired meme at this point. We get it. You don't like the game (even though I'd wager that most of the hardcore haters have barely even actually played it themselves). Will you please step back now and let the millions of players that do love Destiny 2 just enjoy their time with it?
Cody Gravelle

I Am Setsuna

I've never had the same muted emotional attachment to a game before or since. There are subtleties in the execution of what is, objectively, a fairly generic JRPG story. That, combined with the incredible musical score and vibrant, snow-covered world made for the gaming equivalent of sitting in a cabin during the winter, slowly stoking a warm fire while listening to one of your loved ones talk about something they're passionate about. It's the kind of game I don't think can get made again deliberately or otherwise, and I will defend its near-perfect execution to all comers.
Dylan Bishop

Kingdom Hearts

Upfront: the Gummi Ships suck, and the story is ludicrous. But there’s also a charm in that inane stupidity, and the way it melds with the Disney and Final Fantasy aesthetics. Kingdom Hearts shouldn't work. And because of that, the ways in which is DOES work make me cackle like a child. I love watching Mickey flip through the air as Final Fantasy characters crank up their melodramatic monologues. Let me be happy.
Ginny Woo

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus

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If Beethoven had been an iteration of our modern times, he may very well have written Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125 about the fleshy heaven that is Senran Kagura: Estival Versus. Also, it’s actually a really good brawler. Don’t be a prude and write it off because you’re diametrically opposed to breasts on real women.
Jenny Jones

The Atelier Series

These games are so different to most other JRPG’s and I love that they’re so light-hearted and charming. The stories are generally pretty laid back and focus more on character interaction then the usual save-the-world tropes. I don’t care that everyone else seems to think this series is crap, I love pretty much everything about it, even the time limits.
Ken Barnes

Burnout: Revenge

No matter how many megaphones I strap together, Burnout Revenge will never get as much praise as it deserves. When folks try to reduce it to Crash Mode and overlook the pure balls-out speed and style of the racing action, I come out swinging. Revenge is complimented by the development team hitting the exact perfect spot between forgiving and challenging gameplay, as well as fantastic presentation and a killer soundtrack. Having played through it again a couple of months ago, the fact it still holds up in today’s market after 13 years is testament to just how good it is.

Would I die to defend it? No. But that's more down to the fact that I'm never going to die than anything else.
Keri Honea

Nier

I don't care what some reviewer said about not finishing the game because the optional fishing mini-game is terrible. The fact is, the fishing is terrible, but the rest of the game is absolutely amazing if you're willing to dive deep into the story and appreciate how much the game makes fun of itself and various game genres. How can you hate a game that makes fun of text-based games as well as the overall point of sidequests?
Michael Briers

Sons of Liberty

It was my first foray into the Metal Gear series when I was younger and I combed over every inch of it. Got the bandana. Got the stealth suit. As I got older I grew to appreciate its heady themes of political meddling and artificial intelligence. And the La-li-lu-le-lo. Because it's really fun to say out loud.
Mitch Lineham

No More Heroes

The mini-games can be a pain and the combat can be repetitive, but damn if it doesn't have some of the best boss battles in gaming and a unique personality that helps it stand out among other games still today. It's Suda51's best game, and it really is a game that shows what he's capable of.
Paulmichael Contreras

No Man's Sky

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Zarmena Kahn

The Order 1886

I know it was short but it set the stage for what could potentially be an awesome sequel. The story was actually pretty good but just needed to be fleshed out a bit more. The setting was perfect. I feel like critics were a little too harsh. I enjoyed it, and will continue hoping for a sequel.