Ready at Dawn, the developer behind PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886, has had a rather significant change in leadership. Paul Sams, a Blizzard veteran of over twenty years, was just appointed its CEO. It seems that their inability to retain ownership of IPs, like The Order: 1886, resulted in Sams taking over the top position.
A studio that can’t retain ownership of its IPs is in a very dangerous position because they are essentially contractors in that deal. Insomniac Games was also in a position like this recently where many publishers wanted to own Sunset Overdrive. Microsoft was the only one willing to let them retain their IP in the interest of fostering creativity. The results speak for themselves. The game was phenomenal and garnered acclaim from both customers and critics. The same can’t be said for other titles. When a studio doesn’t have any stake in the IP, it affects creativity on many levels. There are countless examples of this happening across the industry.
Weerasuriya, the outgoing CEO said, “It is never easy finding someone to take over the reins of a company after this many years, but I cannot think of anyone better suited to guide the team as we look to the future. He is one of the most accomplished, respected and experienced leaders in our industry. With Paul’s arrival, our studio in Irvine will turn its attention solely to creative and game development, while Austin will become the focus of our business endeavors. Paul’s expertise and industry knowledge positions us well to reach our company goals, including securing a strategic partner which will allow us to retain ownership of the transmedia IPs that we create.”
When asked about his new role as CEO, Sams said, “Ready at Dawn is one of the best pure game developers in the industry. After 12 years, they remain an independent developer true to their craft of creating gameplay in unique and immersive worlds filled with engaging characters and experiences. Much like when I joined Blizzard, my role is to create an environment in which our talented team can focus on making games without the business constraints and limitations that can hamper the creative process.”
Sams went on to confirm plans for multiplatform development. He said, “We want to build, own and publish our own IPs in the future. At the same time, we have worked very hard to make sure that our engine and technology suite is multiplatform. What we did on the PS4 for The Order: 1886, we can also do today on Xbox One, PC, and on an additional unannounced platform. We are in the process of trying to figure out how we will be able to achieve that goal. As for The Order, it was absolutely the company’s desire to own it. We love that game and we are proud of it. Unfortunately, we were at a point in the company’s evolution where owning that IP was not possible. We hope to not find ourselves in that position again.”
It’s unfortunate that studios have to give up control of their IPs in order to make sure their games get made. I hope Ready at Dawn are able to keep their IPs in the future. We hope that other platforms get to experience their technology the same way Ryse was able to make its way onto PC. I’m glad a veteran like Sams is in charge now to lead the studio in the right direction.
Source: Action Trip
Asher Madan is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 182 articles to ICXM in 2015, focused on Windows and PC, and Xbox news: joined Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017 covering Xbox news, hardware, and reviews.