Fearless Studios formed by LucasArts vets Haden Blackman, Cedrick Collomb
After 13 years with the same company, it's hard to characterize Haden Blackman's departure from LucasArts earlier this year as "sudden." But being at the creative helm of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 at the time - a major sequel to a major product that Blackman also led - certainly made it unexpected. Now, less than three months after leaving the studio that Skywalker built, Blackman is back with partner Cedrick Collomb (the lead engineer on Force Unleashed and, afterwards, director of engineering at LucasArts) to unveil Fearless Studios, the latest high-profile, creator-led independent studio.
I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein.- Haden Blackman "I've always wanted to run my own development studio," Blackman told Joystiq earlier this week. "It's been something that I've been thinking about for the last five or six years and have entertained a few other times in the past and this seemed like the right time. I had a great time playing in someone else's sandbox for the last twelve years but now I really want to see if I could build my own. Star Wars is arguably the most recognizable and powerful IP in the entire world and I was extremely fortunate to get to explore that universe."
Operating outside of the confines of Lucas' Death Star-shaped sandbox, Blackman says, "At least in the short term, we want to remain independent and build the games that we want to build the way we want to build them and with the people we want to work with." To that end, the fledgling studio already has "six different concepts" in the works. "They range from big action games similar to what we've done in the past with things like Force Unleashed, to hardcore horror. I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein." One description that Blackman consistently uses to define the types of projects Fearless is working on is "story-driven."
I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein.- Haden Blackman "I've always wanted to run my own development studio," Blackman told Joystiq earlier this week. "It's been something that I've been thinking about for the last five or six years and have entertained a few other times in the past and this seemed like the right time. I had a great time playing in someone else's sandbox for the last twelve years but now I really want to see if I could build my own. Star Wars is arguably the most recognizable and powerful IP in the entire world and I was extremely fortunate to get to explore that universe."
Operating outside of the confines of Lucas' Death Star-shaped sandbox, Blackman says, "At least in the short term, we want to remain independent and build the games that we want to build the way we want to build them and with the people we want to work with." To that end, the fledgling studio already has "six different concepts" in the works. "They range from big action games similar to what we've done in the past with things like Force Unleashed, to hardcore horror. I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein." One description that Blackman consistently uses to define the types of projects Fearless is working on is "story-driven."
