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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen starts new studio, Giant Skull

The Skull from Giant Skull's logo.
Giant Skull

After a boom of video game studio foundings, acquisitions, and developer recruiting in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the industry is headed in the opposite direction. Acquisitions have slowed down, layoffs happen multiple times a week, and news of canceled projects and studio closures has overtaken that of studio announcements. During this time, an industry veteran and game director behind titles like God of War 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has started a new studio

Stig Asmussen left Respawn Entertainment in September 2023. At the time, we didn’t know what was next, but this morning, Asmussen announced that he had founded a new studio called Giant Skull alongside veterans from companies like Respawn Entertainment and Epic Games. That team is now at one on creating its first title, an action-adventure game that Giant Skull is keeping under wraps for now. Prior to the announcement, I spoke with Asmussen to learn more about this AAA studio emerging at a time when the video game industry is struggling.

No regrets

“This idea of being able to start a studio from the ground up with really good people and to be able to define the culture, the types of games that we’re going to make, and the types of players that we want to speak to, it really resonated with me,” Asmussen tells Digital Trends. “I just couldn’t let it go.”

Stig Asmussen's headshot.
Giant Skull

From my conversation with Asmussen, it became clear that this isn’t a former AAA developer attempting to strike out on his own for a small independent production. He was reached out to with a studio-founding opportunity — something that’s getting increasingly rare for video game developers — and Asmussen decided to embrace it. He tells us leaving Respawn was a “difficult decision” because he was happy working there and not trying to “run away from anything.”

“One of my mottos is ‘no regrets,’ and I felt like if I didn’t take this opportunity, then I would always look back, wish about what could have been, and perhaps wasn’t going to be the best version of myself, ” he says. “Something of this scale, there are people that I’m partnering with, and it’s actually an incredible support group. That’s making sure we can focus on being creative and not have the friction that normally would be involved with starting up a new studio.”

As for what projects the developers on the team are focused on, Asmussen confirmed that Giant Skull is starting as a one-game studio and that it’s making a single-player action-adventure game that plays from a third-person perspective. He believes action adventure games should be “about taking a player on for a ride and asking them to look around, probe the world, and ask questions,” a sentiment that certainly applies to his Star Wars Jedi games. He wants Giant Skull’s games to “have a certain tempo and momentum to them, so you are always driving and you feel like you want to move forward.”

We’re not going to go out and try to make a flight simulator.

During our conversation, Asmussen emphasized that he’s not interested in chasing industry trends like live service and instead embraces what he knows his team can execute well. He also has no qualms about doubling down on single-player AAA games.

“We’re not going to go out and try to make a flight simulator; we’re not good at that. We’re going to focus on the type of game that we’re good at,” Asmussen explains. “And especially for the first game, we’re going to be ambitious, but we’re going to build upon things that we’ve done in the past rather than trying to create things that might be a little bit more exploration for us. That’s not about reducing ambition because I think we’ve proven that we can do premium quality AAA games and handcrafted experiences, and that’s always difficult to do.”

The giant skull of a struggling industry

Giant Skull’s unveiling results from a long-gestating plan to establish a new AAA studio that has secured funding and isn’t facing the same struggles other game companies face in 2024. Asmussen says the layoff wave the video game industry is facing right now is “tough,” citing his own experience with game cancellations, studio shutdowns, and knowing people impacted by this current flurry of video game industry layoffs.

He also points out that “when you have 30 great games come out in one year in one space, there are only so many games that an individual can buy, and maybe those games cannibalize each other to a certain extent.” Giant Skull’s first game is still years off, so the video game industry will likely be in a different place when its first game comes out. Still, it’s notable that Giant Skull appears to be in a good place at a time when many other studios are struggling.

The company logo for Giant Skull.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Asmussen says the team is currently 30 people and wants Giant Skull to stay “lean and mean” for now in its early stages. While Giant Skull has an office in Los Angeles, Asmussen also says he’s open to employees doing remote work at a time when companies like Blizzard Entertainment and Rockstar are forcing their employees to work at the studio, much to the chagrin of those developers.

“I think there’s a lot to be learned from COVID. The most important thing is having freedom and being able to work the way and operate the way that’s going to be best for your personal life. In turn, that will probably allow you to execute best as an individual on the team.” Asmussen went on to tell me that people are the most important thing to account for when building a studio, which is refreshing to hear when it feels like the leaders at video game companies see their workers as little more than numbers on a spreadsheet

Although many of the studios struggling right now can’t match Giant Skull’s situation of having support before the currently tumultuous storm of the video game industry, there is something to be Asmussen’s approach of seizing available opportunities and having the support of people who want you to be creative. Hopefully, those kinds of studios survive the tumultuous period the video game industry is in the middle of.

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Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will now release in April following delay
Cal Kestis.

EA and Respawn Entertainment need a bit more time to create Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, so the game has been delayed until April 28. 
Originally set to release on March 17 at The Game Awards 2022, this delay pushes the highly anticipated Star Wars game back by more than a month. In a tweet explaining the delay, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen explains that the game is "content complete," but needs more time to "enhance performance, stability, polish, and most importantly, the player experience." Ultimately, he believes this six-week delay will allow the development team "to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve." You can read the full message in the tweet below:
https://twitter.com/eastarwars/status/1620527593580806145
Thankfully, a six-week delay isn't that lengthy in the video game industry, so Star Wars fans will only have to wait a little while longer to experience Cal Kestis' next adventure. Today hasn't been the best for Respawn Entertainment fans, though, as the developer also announced it would shut down the mobile version of Apex Legends.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player action-adventure game that followed the journey of former Padawan Cal Kestis between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. This sequel takes place five years after that game, with Cal Kestis actor Cameron Monaghan telling Digital Trends that the narrative has an "emotionally complicated center where we’re exploring some challenging questions." Hopefully, that all makes this game worth the wait. 
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Cal stands beneath the clouds in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor key art.

When we first met Cal Kestis in 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, he was just a young Padawan. A redheaded kid draped in an unflattering poncho, Cal would grow into a full-blown Jedi by the end of the game. It was a classic Star Wars arc in video game form, but one that left players wanting more. It’s great that we got to see that growth, but who could resist the idea of a sequel where his newly awakened powers would be fully unleashed?
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“In the first game, he had a naivete and a wide-eyed nature that I love about Cal,” Monaghan tells Digital Trends. “But I think tha,t situationally, if you’re in such a desperate place for so many years and fighting and being a soldier and a tool for resistance, at some point, it’s going to start to change the way you see the world around you.”
I sat down with Cameron Monaghan ahead of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s grand reveal at this year’s Game Awards. The actor explained how Cal has changed in the five-year time skip between games and shared fresh details on the sequel’s new companion character, Bode Akuna. Monaghan explained the balancing act that comes with trying to stay focused on a character’s personal journey when working within a much larger, expanded universe -- and he offered some praise for Andor too.
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When we were making the first game, we had inklings that we would maybe want to do more with it if it was successful. I’ll never forget when we had the wrap party for the first game and Stig Asmussen, the head of Respawn, was like, “What do you want to do?” I had this crazy moment where I was like, “Wow, I really wish I was more prepared for this!’”
But I was able to give a broad strokes answer: I wanted to see Cal a number of years on from the first game and see him mature and have a different outlook. A more complex, darker, more challenged character. In the first game, he had a naivete and a wide-eyed nature that I love about Cal. But I think that, situationally, if you’re in such a desperate place for so many years and fighting and being a soldier and a tool for resistance, at some point, it’s going to start to change the way you see the world around you. I wanted to explore what that looked like for Cal.
He’s been through some stuff, and I think over the last two years, we’ve all been through some stuff, man!

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First Star Wars Jedi: Survivor trailer features dual-lightsaber combat, open-world teases
Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is launching on March 17, 2023, for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC. The action-adventure game received an impressive trailer during The Game Awards that showed off several new features and teased some potential open-world aspects.
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Official Reveal Trailer
Combat is notably evolved in the trailer, as Cal can now freely use a dual-lightsaber stance in battle. Later, we see him enter “cross guard” stance as he takes down droids with heavy, two-handed slashes. EA tells Digital Trends that the goal of the sequel is to give players more agency when it comes to their playstyle.
Traversal plays a large role in the clip too. In addition to swinging around via grappling points, Cal is seen mounted on animals. He’s shown riding the back of a four-legged creature and using a winged one like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s glider. The clip seems to imply that the game’s planets might be more open-ended than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s, as one shot shows Cal peering out over a gigantic vista. EA notes that the sequel is still largely a Metroidvania-inspired title where Cal gets new abilities over time.
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was built with current-generation consoles in mind, with ray tracing being a major focus. It appears to be a graphically impressive showcase that features more dynamic lighting and flashy lightsaber effects. The adventure won’t launch on PS4 or Xbox One, but it’ll be available for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 17, 2023.

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