Stig Asmussen, director of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, said he wanted to "pursue other adventures" when he left Respawn in September 2023, and now we know what that means. Asmussen announced today the launch of a new studio called Giant Skull, which will "focus on creating gameplay-driven, story-driven, immersive action-adventure games set in captivating worlds." [Giant Skull's studio culture is based on creativity and curiosity. We've assembled a talented team renowned for immersive storytelling, heroic combat, and exhilarating traverses." Our goal is to create a rich world that players will want to immerse themselves in for years to come.

That team includes Jon Carr, technical director for "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" and design director Jeff Magers, former art director for "Fortnite," "Valorant" and "League of Legends" Patrick Murphy; Lauren McLemore, lead producer of "Fortnite"; Brian Campbell, animation director at Epic Games; and Anthony Scott, chief operations officer at Rocksteady.

Naturally.

Unsurprisingly, no details were given about the studio's first game, other than that it is a "AAA single-player focused action-adventure" built on Unreal Engine 5. However, even though there isn't much to see in the press release, Giant Skull's website might reveal a few things: ...... Well, probably nothing substantial, but that's fun.

To get started, click on the square brackets in the upper right corner of the Giant Skull website. A console prompt opens, accepting at least a couple of Linux commands - LS and CAT - and various keywords: for example, type "Culture" for "AUTONOMY_MOMENTUM_CURIOUS_RESPECT", "concept" would display a poem highlighting the values of this studio.

If you want to cut to the chase, the Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit has compiled a list of secrets found so far.

The announcement may be dry, but the fact that Asmussen has an enviable track record and is starting on something new is interesting: before directing "Star Wars Jedi" (and "Fallen Order"), "God of War 2 art director, game director for God of War 3, and creative director for the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot.