The former President of Rockstar North, Leslie Benzies, has launched a brand new studio and also unveiled its first game.
The studio based in Scotland and California does not have a name yet, but already has upwards of 30 people working for it and is hiring more as of this writing.
The studios first title will be an ambitious sounding project called "Everywhere". The open-world game will allow players to go anywhere and do anything.
"The game is about giving the player an enormous amount of freedom, with enough possibilities and just enough constraints to keep you constantly entertained and at the same time feel like you’re actively shaping the world around you, and living in a genuinely alternate reality."
Benzies also stated "Everywhere has a lot of traditional game mechanics, but we're gonig for something more that draws inspiration from, well, everywhere... Players are getting smarter and require more from their games. We want players to have the real freedom to live in our worlds the ways they want to."
Everywhere is being made on Amazon's Lumberyard Engine and will hit unspecified consoles as well as PC when it eventually does release. The studio head also teased that people will be able to "engage with the games through other means, too." He was quick to stress that this game will not be a copy of Grand Theft Auto.
"Everywhere is very different from GTA...There may be parts of our game that include satire but the tone will be very different and at times our players will be in control of how the tone is set."
Its an interesting turn of events following a rocky 2016 for Benzies who was fired from Rockstar North in January 2016 following a 17-month sabbatical. April of 2016 saw him sue Rockstar Games for $150 Million in unpaid royalties and an allegation that he was forced out.
We'll keep you up todate on Leslie's new studio and the ambitious title, Everywhere, as we can.