Former Star Wars Jedi and Fortnite devs team up in new studio Giant Skull

Stig Asmussen wants to make a triple-A action adventure

A new video game developer has been formed: Giant Skull has put down its headquarters in Los Angeles, California, where its core team will work from, and will employ developers from around the world in a remote capacity. Led by renowned dev Stig Asmussen as CEO, Giant Skull will be focusing on triple-A action adventure games with a focus on gameplay and immersive stories.

Asmussen, who’s worked on God of War 2 at Sony Santa Monica as art director and both Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor at Respawn Entertainment as game director, left EA five months after Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was released last year. With over 25 years of experience, he’s now taken the next step up the ladder.

“The Giant Skull studio culture is founded on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen commented. “We have assembled a talented team renowned for immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal, and our goal is to craft a rich universe that players will want to lose themselves in for years to come.”

Giant Skull

The CEO assembled a leadership team that’s just as seasoned as himself. Jon Carr, another Respawn Entertainment and Star Wars Jedi veteran, is on board as CTO, while Patrick Murphy will be the studio’s art director. He’s previously worked with Asmussen on the God of War series and was the art director for League of Legends and Valorant at Riot Games as well as for Fortnite at Epic Games – making him arguably one of the most influential artists in the industry.

The Epic and Respawn genes run even stronger, though: Fortnite’s former lead producer Lauren McLemore and its animation director Brian Campbell have signed onto Giant Skull along with Asmussen’s former Star Wars Jedi colleague Jeff Magers, who’ll be the design director.

On the management side, former director of operations at Rocksteady Studios Anthony Scott has been named as COO/CFO.

Asmussen has managed to assemble quite the team for Giant Skull’s first project, which is being described as a “triple-A single-player focused action adventure, utilizing Unreal Engine 5.”

Interested gamers may find out more about the team and its project on the fancy studio website, which features a command terminal that may unveil a few secrets – if you find the right orders, that is.

Interview: Stig Asmussen breaks down the world design of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor