Several members of the development team behind Sonic Mania have banded together to form their very own game development studio, Evening Star.
The studio has its headquarters based in Los Angeles, with others working across Melbourne and London. It describes itself as a "boutique" studio, with each team member pursuing "a goal to make their own great games". It's new website states that "by encouraging strong technical foundations in every discipline, members are given a voice and latitude to impact games in unique ways. By reinvigorating gaming history's more cunning techniques, the team boldly explores directions long since left behind".
Joining Christian Whitehead, perhaps the best-known member of the Sonic Mania development team, is CEO and producer Dave Padilla, art director Tom Fry, technical and audio director Hunter Bridges, and design director Brad Flick. Each of these founding members previously worked on Sonic Mania Plus before quietly starting this new adventure in November 2018.
Evening Star says its mission is "designing fresh, fun games which will stand the test of time". To do this, the core technology and architecture behind Whitehead's Retro Engine (the tech used to build Sonic Mania) is being reborn as the Star Engine, which will go on to form the basis of the studio's new games. It just so happens that the team is hiring, too.
Are you expecting big things from the studio? What sort of games would you like to see from the creators of Sonic Mania? Share your desires in the comments.
[source eveningstar.studio, via gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 27
If chritian whitehead is involved, I can believe in this.
Whitehead should just go and snatch the Castlevania license off Konami, I think he’d do wonders with it.
Sounds really promising, and with the freedom the individuals have hopefully something great will happen. For me personally we need games that hark back to the golden age of the Arcade and 16 bit era. Games like Outrun that are truly timeless. This is what I want from games made now, still playing in another 30 years later and still love em.
So does this mean Mania 2 is unlikely?
"Evening Star" sounds like some broadsheet newspaper instead of a game developer....but I'm sure they'll do amazing things!
Not to insult Christian Whitehead but I wanted to say that his name would be pretty fitting for a Klansman.
@Mogster I'd think Sega could still have them do it. Capcom and Nintendo do second- and third-party handoffs all the time.
@Mogster not unlikely. Rather that mania 2 won’t have a christian whitehead logo in the intro but instead an evening star logo.
As far as I’m concerned Sega should have sacked Sonic Team and given Christian the job along with his own hand-picked team.
@TheFanatic 100% agree I would love a proper Castlevania game and these guys did an amazing job with sonic mania.
There goes any chance of sonic mania 2.
Good stuff. Hopefully something cool comes of it.
@garydbz25 I'd still love to see that happen, with these guys involved.
Make a flash game open world that would be great or castlevania i need a new one of those.
@TheFanatic If you think Konami will give that IP up for anything less than 100 million you are kidding yourself, and I doubt he has that kind of cash.
I wish them well! A company is very different then your own private entity so hopefully they do not have too many hiccups along the way.
@Jokerwolf It’s called theft. No one has to know.
They used to tempt fate and never see straight, faltering through their younger days. But now they’re stronger, the haze no longer...
So does this mean we'll get a sequel to Sonic Forces?
I'd like to see what they can do with a 3D action game.
But what does a small farming village in Cormyr have to do with video games???
Evening Star = Venus.
Their games should be Gorgeous like Venus goddess.
Yes please sonic mania sequel please.... Including the 5 characters from plus, the rest of the chaotix crew, shadow, Amy and whoever else they can think of! Johnny Lightfoot from sonic the comic maybe?!
Huh, I’m not far from Melbourne... what positions are open, I wonder?
That logo - all kid of unfortunate 😳
Outside of that - good luck. My nephew enjoyed sonic mania plus.
I can’t wait to see this logo pop up when I load up Sonic Mania 2!
Why SEGA, however? Why not Nintendo itself? Imagine the crazy stuff these guys could do with Mario. No, scratch that! Imagine what they could do with dormant Nintendo IPs.
New 2D Metroid with a new, unrevealed story. New F-Zero built on the PS1-esque engine used in the Special Stages from Mania. Endless possibilities right there.
Or maybe, yeah, a Castlevania done by hiring the guys. That should work too.
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