David Brevik has been a fan-favorite in the online gaming world for years. Though probably best known for his founding role on the Diablo franchise at Blizzard, he’s carved out an entertaining niche for himself beyond that, whether he’s building indie games, calling out Blizzard, advising on Path of Exile, dodging hate for Hellgate, or escaping from Gazillion just before it completely exploded and took our beloved Marvel Heroes with it. (And who can forget Brevik’s stream where he and his wife slammed the “Weinstein-like” behavior of rich dudes in the gaming industry? Good times.)
Anyhow, Brevik’s back in the news today as he and former PWE vet Bill Wang have founded Skystone Games, a “global developer and publisher of multiplatform video games, with the aim to provide creative guidance and global publishing services.”
“One of the biggest joys in this industry is uncovering hidden gems – projects that are absolutely special, but don’t ever really get the attention they deserve. That’s a problem we want to help solve,” Brevik says. “Our team has a proven track record of doing just that, and we want to shine a spotlight on the sort of talent that deserves to be recognized in a very crowded and competitive world.”
The downside is that Skystone’s first two games are not MMOs: Undying is a survival title, while Spaceline Crew is a non-violent, co-op roguelike, but given all the braindrain the industry is suffering, whatever keeps vets around is probably a net win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr4zv-uzweA
