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emptyvessel is a new studio from id Software, Naughty Dog, and Activision veterans

emptyvessel's team includes Mick Gordon and Rico Flores, among others.

March 12, 2024 9:00 AM

As the games industry continues to navigate a tumultuous period, a new studio has been formed by folks behind some of the biggest franchises in the business. emptyvessel touts itself as the “new wave of gaming” and is currently hiring for its first project.

emptyvessel was announced today with the unveiling of its official website and Twitter/X profile. Its current roster includes Mick Gordon, the composer known for his work on the Doom and Wolfenstein series. Other team members bring experience from franchises like Uncharted, Borderlands, Tomb Raider, and The Last of Us. A statement on the site’s front page lays out the studio’s objective.

Source: emptyvessel

emptyvessel has yet to reveal its debut game, but we’ll be watching closely for that announcement. Until then, you can bookmark our new emptyvessel topic page for updates from the new studio.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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Shacknews

 reply
March 12, 2024 9:00 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, emptyvessel is a new studio from id Software, Naughty Dog, and Activision veterans
- Flynn
  
   reply
  March 12, 2024 9:12 AM
  
  this is kinda exciting actually.
  - Chod
    
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    March 12, 2024 9:15 AM
    
    Eh many industry veterans from big corps over the years have created companies and most fail or release bad games. Until they release some good game the talent behind them doesn't actually matter.
    - Flynn
      
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      March 12, 2024 9:18 AM
      
      maybe we'll get a new Enemy Territory: Quake Wars?
    - gokart.
      
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      March 12, 2024 9:23 AM
      
      yeah i can no longer get excited about what studio makes what, or what their supposed lineage is. i don't have the time or energy to track that talent i associated with games i enjoy, and past performance is not an indicator of future development so it's basically always a crapshoot anyway.
      - u sir name
        
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        March 12, 2024 1:04 PM
        
        It meant something when a game dev studio was a dozen people at most but when you were 1 out of 600 on the dev team it's a bit diluted. It makes for a bouncy press release, I'm not an investor looking to throw money at something, but as a gamer I'm impressed with results far more than lineage.
        
        Borzoi
        
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        March 12, 2024 3:07 PM
        
        Although there are definitely talented notable veterans operating very small teams out there, such as the folks who did The Chant, Mortal Shell or our own lplasmatron’s Axis Unseen.
        
        UE5 is making smaller teams more viable too.
        
        But no doubt there are big name vets who intentionally parlay their names into inflated budgets and over-ambitious projects that then fail on various levels or don’t see the light of day. Lots of high profile examples of that lately, sad to say.
    - kagath
      
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      March 12, 2024 9:26 AM
      
      Troika Games remembers.
      - Hoax
        
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        March 12, 2024 9:28 AM
        
        Troika also made one of the most fun rpg games of all time with vampire: the masquerade : bloodlines
        
        kagath
        
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        March 12, 2024 9:31 AM
        
        Problem was everything they released was soooo buggy. They didn't believe in QA apparently. I love Arcanum but damn it still needs some fixes. Really dragged their releases down.
    - capt tripps
      
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      March 12, 2024 1:00 PM
      
      Empty Vessel's not a very inspiring name.
    - Schnapple
      
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      March 12, 2024 1:26 PM
      
      Every once in a while you get MachineGames who redefine how the Wolfenstein games operate, but yeah I'll sit back and see what these guys come up with. For better or worse the only name I recognize on there is Mick Gordon.
    - shirif
      
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      March 12, 2024 3:25 PM
      
      I think it highlights that there are in fact such a thing as an extra super talented unicorn contributor/visionary.
      And that even above average talent, if combined, can't usually match the output of the genius
    - ForcedEvolutionaryVirus
      
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      March 12, 2024 3:26 PM
      
      There's a few success stories... like DICE people into Embark (The Finals). And Starbreeze into MachineGames. Maybe it only works in Sweden?
      
      I feel like there's been a ton of people who've left valve and not had a big success and then people who spun INTO valve and have also not. Looking at you Campo Santo.