An Austin-based indie developer is taking on an industry veteran to help it build its own triple-A games.
Certain Affinity, a studio that has helped co-develop the multiplayer modes for massive hits like Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Halo 4, has hired former Ubisoft Montreal narrative director Corey May. The developer is transitioning from working on other company’s games into a new phase where it makes its own products, and May is now in charge of overseeing the scripts for Certain Affinity’s upcoming projects.
In a statement, Certain Affinity president Max Hoberman explained that this is only the first of many new hires he intends to make to fill out “key leadership positions.”
“While multiplayer will continue to be an important part of our DNA and our project portfolio, we’re also intent on becoming experts at single player and cooperative experiences,” said Hoberman. “Best-in-class talent like Corey building and leading our Narrative Department is a huge leap in this direction, and his experience and perspective will be tremendous assets to us.”
By bringing in May, Hoberman and Certain Affinity are signaling the types of experiences they want to create. May has previously worked on Assassin’s Creed III and Batman: Arkham Origins, and it’s likely that his new studio will try to capitalize on that history by making something similar to those story-heavy releases.
Certain Affinity now has a team of around 100 people, and the company’s announcements says that it plans to release its upcoming standalone projects on console and PC.