2K’s new studio Hangar 13 will be headed by comic book writer and LucasArts veteran Haden Blackman.
If there’s one thing a game publisher can never have enough of, it’s good developers. Perhaps understanding this, 2K has announced plans today to launch a new studio based in San Francisco with the aim of producing “some of the most memorable AAA experiences of this generation.” This new development house, dubbed Hangar 13, will be guided by veteran game maker Haden Blackman as well as a simple core mantra: “Every player story is unique.”
It’s an ideal that’s close to Blackman’s heart. A longtime developer and former LucasArts employee with more than 20 titles under his belt, Blackman’s love of video games dates back to his younger days sharing his experiences playing games with his brothers. It’s these sorts of memories that he hopes to create for gamers with Hangar 13. How does he intend to achieve this goal? Simply put, by making good games. “Our ambition is to create next-generation games that allow players to shape their own experiences, from the moment-to-moment gameplay, to the long-term impact on the world, characters and narrative.”
Speaking with The Escapist, Blackman further affirmed his belief that many of the best moments in video games come from “unexpected things that happen as a result of the way” players interact with “systems working underneath the hood.” “My hope,” he said. “Is that, at the end of the day, people will look at [our] game and feel like it was a different experience that they can go back, replay and make different choices at every level.”
Sadly, while Blackman and 2K had no trouble expressing their enthusiasm for Hangar 13’s coming projects, they couldn’t offer many specific details as to what exactly they’ll be. All they would say was that the studio’s projects will be AAA, use proprietary technology and be developed by “a core team passionate about delivering mature experiences loaded with meaningful choices.” Suffice it to say, we’ll be looking forward to learning exactly what that means.
