Avalanche Studios founder and Just Cause franchise creator Christofer Sundberg is opening a new studio, Liquid Swords, which will focus on the development of open-world action games for next-gen consoles, PC, and streaming platforms. Sundberg spent the last year-and-a-half away from the games industry, having departed Avalanche Studios in April 2019 to take a break after working consistently in the business for well over 20 years.
Christofer Sundberg founded Avalanche Studios in 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. The studio's first success came with the release of its debut title, Just Cause, in 2006. As a whole, the sandbox series introduced a variety of innovative gameplay mechanics and pushed in-engine physics to their limits. Meanwhile, Avalanche, currently known as Avalanche Studios Group, has grown immeasurably, now acting as a parent organization for Avalanche Studios, Expansive Worlds, and Systemic Reaction. However, Sundberg is ready to move on from his AAA venture and start over.
In a Facebook statement about the founding of Liquid Swords, Sundberg said the "ultimate goal" for his new company centers on making game development a creative and fun process. He additionally aims to push the industry forward by focusing more on the crafting of innovative action titles and less on business plans and spreadsheets. Of course, the developer is a business first and foremost, one that will provide go-to entertainment with "immediately accessible and consistently rewarding" games.
Like Avalanche, Liquid Swords is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Sundberg's intention to produce "open world action, explosions, and shareable experiences" also sounds similar to what he and his crew once accomplished with the Just Cause series. With that in mind, it seems Sundberg won't stray far from what he is known for creating. But Liquid Swords will see him explore other expansive avenues, since the developer serves as the "management and technological foundation" for multiple studios that will eventually be spread across the globe. More details concerning the nascent organization's studio locations, founding members, and technology should surface sometime in the early part of 2021.
Sundberg isn't the only veteran game developer to leave AAA game development, take a lengthy break, then return with a new studio and a fresh set of ideas in tow. Along with EA and Ubisoft alum, Dragon Age Creative Director Mike Laidlaw recently announced the establishment of Yellow Brick Studio, a new development house that also hopes to abandon some of the industry's business-centric, and often controversial, production standards. That respected industry veterans are constantly looking to change the status quo is a sign that change may well be on the horizon.
Source: Liquid Swords
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