Studio Behind Beautifully Haunting Sci-Fi Adventure Somerville Gets Second Shot At Independence
After Playdead released Inside in 2016, co-founder Dino Patti split off from the critically acclaimed indie studio amid a messy business breakup and ultimately went on to create Jumpship, another small studio working on similarly eerie and evocative adventure games. That mission now has a chance to continue after Jumpship was recently spun off by its chaotic owners.
'Jumpship has always been about pushing the boundaries of emotions, storytelling, and innovation in gaming,' Patti, who was executive producer on both Limbo and Inside, said in a press release. 'I want to take the company in a completely new direction while staying true to that vision.'
Purchased by Swedish publishing group Thunderful in 2022 after the release of its first game Somerville, Jumpship was recently sold back to the Playdead co-founder along with a stake in Sad Owl Studios, maker of the excellent Viewfinder, late last year as Thunderful engages in multiple rounds of cuts and layoffs.
'This is more than just a business decision; it's about reigniting the passion and vision that first sparked Jumpship—while taking it further than ever before,' Patti said. This time around, however, he'll be doing it without studio cofounder Chris Olsen, who was the director on Somerville, or the rest of its development team.
The group's 2022 debut indie game channeled the cinematic puzzle adventure DNA of Limbo and Inside but without the refined gameplay. It was visually striking and told a beautiful, tense story of a father trying to find his family amid a mysterious alien invasion, but struggled to win over players who found the controls frustrating and the linear exploration unintuitive.
Thunderful, meanwhile, continues to face challenges. SteamWorld Heist 2, one of last year's standout tactical RPGs, didn't quite break out like its predecessor, and Kotaku understands that many of the team were laid off during the publisher's latest round of cuts last year.
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