Wushu Weekly #9: End of 2020 Wrap-Up
Hey everyone!
Another year is coming to an end and we’d like to take a few minutes to share a summary and studio update with you all to close it out. This will be the last Wushu Weekly post for 2020 before we take a little break over the new year. It has no doubt been an incredibly difficult year for us and of course the world at large. Plans had to be adjusted, game development transformed, and the ways in which we brought new team members into the Wushu family completely revamped.
It’s a common thread you’ll see across almost all game studios this year.
With that being said, 2020 has also been a year of extraordinary growth for us, in projects and team size! Back in February (in what now feels like another lifetime!), we announced our role working alongside the amazingly talented Larian Studios on Baldur’s Gate III. The chance to work on such an iconic franchise and play a part in bringing it back to life with a visionary team was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
We also had the distinct pleasure of being part of the PlayStation 5 conversation back in June. We’re supporting Lucid Games on their newest project – Destruction AllStars. The team over at Lucid have been an incredible partner and it’s been a pleasure to see the game evolve and continue to push the envelope in vehicular combat and destruction physics. We’re excited to see what everyone thinks of it when it hits PlayStation Plus in just a couple short months.
And that’s not all! We’ve also partnered with other studios as well on multiple games and we can’t wait to share more when the time comes. We’re delighted to support so many projects. It’s been both a welcome learning experience for us and a chance to leave our own unique touch on titles you’ll be playing.
Working with partner studios on their games is an immense honour but it’s not the complete picture for us here at Wushu. So of course, we can’t leave out our very own IP in development. While we’d love nothing more than to spill the beans right this minute, we also want the first time you learn about it to be awesome!
Over the course of the past year, we’ve thought hard about what we want our first game to be. While the core and direction of the game remain the same, we have reshaped our approach and are making some great progress. We’ve brought onboard veteran developers like Lead Designer Mike Humphrey to nail down the game’s design tenants. From artists to programmers and designers to producers, we’re firing on all cylinders and we’re thoroughly excited to show you more in the coming year. We think you’ll like what you see.
We know what you’re thinking: How the heck are you tackling all of these projects? Well rest assured friends! As is the case with many things in life, the more you take on, the more you need to expand. 2020 has been one of increased growth, both of the physical studio itself and the team. We’ve nearly doubled our team size since the beginning of the year and Wushu is now dozens strong. And, if you’re interested in joining our family, head on over to our Careers page and check out our open roles – we’re hiring for several positions including programmers, artists and designers. If you don’t see anything that fits your particular field, feel free to send us a speculative application at careers@wushustudios.com!
We also expanded into a second office to accommodate all of our new arrivals. While we’re thrilled to welcome so many new faces, the health and well-being of our staff is of the utmost importance. That means working in close proximity to one another in an enclosed space will have to wait just a tad bit longer. While we’re all missing each other (and the studio dogs, coffee and lunchtime gaming!), the team continues to thrive and grow together as we take on new projects and dive deeper into development.
And lastly, we love making games here at Wushu, but we also love playing them too! We want to share Game of the Year picks from some of our staff before we head off. Despite its difficulties, this has been an absolutely stellar year with so many great games from tons of talented studios. So many of us had a blast playing. Let’s see everybody’s picks.
- Alan: The Last of Us: Part II
- Andrew: Half-Life: Alyx
- Cass: Paradise Killer
- Erik: Hades
- Farjad: Among Us
- Ian: The Last of Us: Part II
- Jo: Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Kit: Family
- Lee Peers: SCUM
- Lee Picton: Ghost of Tsushima
- Lucy: Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Nate: The Last of Us: Part II
- Nigel: Crusader Kings 3
- Phil M-T: Ghost of Tsushima
- Phil N: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Sherman: Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Stuart: Ghost of Tsushima
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Thank you for continuing this journey with us. There’s so much we’re excited to talk about next year so stay tuned and remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date. We’d like to wish everyone very happy holidays. Stay safe!
Nate Najda
Communications Manager