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NetEase Games has formed a new AAA studio named Jar of Sparks, putting Jerry Hook – former Head of Design for Halo Infinite – in charge.
The new studio intends to “build new franchises with all new characters, stories and worlds to inspire the imaginations of players all over the world”. Jar of Sparks boasts a litany of veteran developers with impressive credits to their respective resumes. Hook himself previously helped launch the original Xbox as well as Xbox Live. He’ll be the team’s first Studio Head and CEO.
Joining him is Paul Crocker, who comes into the Creative Director role. He worked with Hook on Halo Infinite, but he was also the Lead Narrative Director on the Batman: Arkham trilogy. Along with those two, executive Greg Stone worked on 2016’s DOOM and Gameplay Director Steve Dyck worked on the SSX series. And yes, both were also key members of the Halo Infinite team.
As Hook explains in the press release: “We have built games for some of the biggest companies in gaming, and now it’s time to take a shot at putting our own personal lightning in a bottle. We want to create something new, innovative and that’s a blast to play. When looking to create a new studio the most critical part of finding the right partner was being aligned on the fundamental goals of having the freedom to take innovative risks and to put the passion of our creators first.”
There’s no word on Jar of Sparks first game just yet, as they are still hiring. Parent company NetEase made similar moves with big names leading new studios back in January. That’s when it announced it’d nabbed the creator of the Yakuza series and several high profile devs from Ryu Ga Gotaku to form Nagoshi Studio.
