Hundred Star Games, the studio established by Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker, has partnered with Xbox Game Studios to work on a new Microsoft project.
Both Hill and Walker previously announced their departure from Batman Arkham studio Rocksteady in October 2022. They then founded Hundred Star Games in April of that same year. Their connection to the studio was not seen until early this year alongside fans finding out of a "handful of lead developers and director-level ex-Rocksteady employees."
Xbox Partners With Hundred Star Games
(Photo : Hundred Star Games / Screenshot taken from official website)
While there is little official information known about the new studio and its activities so far, reliable leaker eXtas1s reported that Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios signed to publish and finance the developer's first title.
So far, details regarding the new project remain extremely limited but the leaker said that it will be for an AAA-caliber single-player action-adventure build in Unreal Engine 5. This is most likely going to be a platform-exclusive game but this could ultimately change how Microsoft's recent multi-platform strategy evolves, according to Eurogamer.
Prior to the new development, Hill and Walker were both involved with Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. However, they both left the studio before the much-delayed game was even released earlier this year.
The game drew praise from fans because of its presentational panache but there were few who had anything especially positive to say about its live-service core. There were rumors that Hill and Walker are returning to single-player action-adventure territory after their success with Batman Arkham games.
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Hill and Walker's departure came after Rocksteady, in 2020, responded to a report that detailed sexual harassment in its workplace. It noted that "All formal complaints were thoroughly investigated, addressed appropriately, and a number of serious measures were taken," said Kotaku.
The leaker also said that Hundred Star Games is headquartered in London and has already grown its workforce to roughly 100 employees with more than 20 being former Rocksteady developers.
Leading the Batman: Arkham Series
Hill is notable for having vast experience in closely leading the development of some of the best games of Rocksteady. In particular, he directed most of the studio's massive hits, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, and Batman: Arkham Knight.
On the other hand, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League continues to disappoint as its Episode 2 records awful stats. Live-service games such as this heavily rely on player retention in order to be successful in the long run.
If they do not have a constant influx of active users, the games are pretty much considered dead in the water. This means that studios need to have a series of new content prepared to be implemented to remonetize their title. But it is a turn for the worse when people are not buying the new updates.
This is the case with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as the gaming community is now much more critical of live-service games compared to before. Rocksteady's recent title was also released in an incomplete state and it also failed to offer anything that the majority of players want so that they would stick around, according to FandomWire.
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