Wizards of the Coasthas been making big plays across the industry, between its acquisition ofD&D Beyond, the upcomingDungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thievesmovie, and its recent announcement ofOne D&D. On top of these big announcements,Wizards of the Coastjust announced Skeleton Key, a new video game studio led by industry veterans.
Skeleton Key was formally revealed to the world on July 26th. More recently, veteran game developer and writer Charles Boyd revealed he was joining Skeleton Key as its new creative director.
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Until recently, Boyd was the creative director forStar Wars: The Old Republic. Boyd joined BioWare to work onSWTORin 2006, where he became lead writer in 2012. By 2015, he became lead creative designer, and was promoted to creative director in 2016 untilhis departure fromThe Old Republicin early August 2022. Now, Boyd has joined the crew of Skeleton Key as one of its leadership.
Very little is known about Skeleton Key’s future projects at present. According to its website, the video game studio seems to be aiming for the suspense and horror genre, and hopes to “guide players to have fun while facing their fears.” Players can only speculate if its first project will be a single player game, alive service MMORPG likeThe Old Republic, or something completely new. Though only a couple of developers have been revealed as employees of Skeleton Key, players may be able to get a glimpse at what its next project may look like once more of its crew goes public.
Fans ofThe Old Republichad their attention drawn to Skeleton Key upon learning Boyd was involved. He has been a part of theStar Wars: The Old Republicfor its entire lifespan until this point, and he is well-loved by his fans and former fellows. After his bittersweet departure from BioWare, many fans can’t wait to see what quality games Boyd helps make next.
The Austin-based game studio promises transparency, respect, and empathy from its membership, all promising and desired qualities invideo game developers in light of recent controversies across the industry. It is actively seeking new developers to join its team, and wants to build an inclusive and diverse team. Hopefully, the newWizards of the Coaststudio will be able to deliver on these promises as it develops its team and future projects, and avoid unfortunately common studio pitfalls like crunch and hostile work environments.
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