A new studio has just been founded on the West Coast of the United States, but it's one that's committed to its workers being fully remote, with unlimited paid time off, 35-hour work weeks, and benefits and perks that vary depending on the country in which you work. It's called Gardens — and it boasts some great talent already.
The founders, Chris Bell, Lexie Dostal, and Stephen Bell, have credits on Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch, Blaseball, and Dustforce. Other video game veterans have already joined the studio, including Ryan Benno (Spider-Man, The Wolf Among Us, Ratchet and Clank), Sarah Sands (Fullbright), Roldán Melcon (Blaseball, Where Cards Fall), and Leighton Milne (Ashen, The Hobbit).
The studio has raised $4.5 million as seed funding, and will be putting that investment money towards building "online experiences", with an upcoming and unnamed game that draws on the experience of their developers on games like Journey, Sky: Children of the Light, and Blaseball.
"Players [will cross] paths in a mysterious and magical world driven by the concept art of ma-ko, art direction by Leighton Milne (Ashen, The Hobbit), and an art team led by Ryan Benno (Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank)."
This is ma-ko's art style, in case you wanted an idea of what this game could look like:
And here's some of the teaser concept art for the game:
Excited for what these devs could be cooking up in their new remote kitchen? Let us know your hopes in the comments!
[source gamedeveloper.com]
Comments 13
I find it weird how in the US when it comes to workers stuff it's almost always some extreme (like fully remote and unlimited time off (which isn't necessarily great tbh) or 60 hour weeks with no time off) instead of something sensible in the middle
I do like that image of Link seemingly dragging that Wallmaster. Clearly had enough of being dragged back to the start of the dungeon.
Regarding the company itself, don't really have too much to say. The "online experiences" they want to develop doesn't exactly thrill me, but hopefully someone gets a kick out of it.
@a1904 35 hour work weeks is pretty in the middle, especially in games development. The unlimited time off probably has certain stipulations to prevent abuse, so while generous, it’s reasonable. Average work week in America is 40 hours/week, though. For games development and other tech jobs, working remote is quickly becoming a standard because if there’s a lockdown, those people can still work. Not sure where you’re getting your information but it’s not totally accurate!
The concept art looks great. I'd be interested in playing something inspired by that. Though I don't know what "online experiences" means. Are they online cooperative games where your friends are a little D&D party like the fourth picture and you go a-questing? (awesome) Are they competitive games like Mario Kart or Smash? Or they're making like an MMO style game with a persistent online world? Or does their company website have an online forum full of grumpy and needlessly contrarian gamers?
"Online Experiences"...AKA NFT?
@a1904 Unlimited PTO is a scam. That lets the company off the hook to pay you out if you were to leave for another job. It also makes it harder for people to take time off because there is no parameter of how much times you've used and how much you have left, which makes people confused.
Moon studios (the dev behind Ori games) is also fully remote. Honestly very impressive that such an arrangement even works for such a large and polished games.
Video game veterens make a game...it's a Zelda clone isn't it.
How is "unlimited paid time off" possible?
Anyway, I love that concept art. It reminds me of Nausicaa-era Hayao Miyazaki. And the lineup of people involve promises much. An exciting new studio amongst the news of Microsoft and Sony buying big.
Looks good but Cloud experience. That isn't going to get far unless it's Digital download. Not everyone can afford ISP subscriptions to remain online especially the Switch when you have no wifi access outside the home that makes it no experiences.
"experiences" just makes me think of the "metaverse" we're all supposed to be living in within 10 years...color me less than excited.
Maybe the game/online experience will be everyone working together remotely to make a game/online experience about everyone working remotely to....
Fully remote and unlimited paid time off. Yeah that’s a recipe to go bankrupt in six months
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