Ex-Naughty Dog director founds Wildflower Interactive to make new game

Bruce Straley is the founder of Wildflower, an innovative new studio that makes it possible to create. Straley has a long history in design and was responsible for Naughty Dog’s success. Uncharted 2, Uncharted 4And Last of Us. Straley was a member of Naughty Dog from 1999 to 2017. Wildflower’s new website shares more about the team of developers, the studio’s priorities, and what players might be able to expect.

The website’s copy reads, in part:

We’re making ‘small-ish,’ creatively-charged, uniquely-stylized games that explore the possibilities of our medium. And we’re building a small, open-hearted team of creators that want to improve their skills and still lead a good life outside of work. You want to improve your craft and feel valued for what they have done.

In an announcement video, Straley says, “We’re making something that I’ve never played before,” adding that “the culture needs to be as iterative as the way we make games.” Straley also shares that Wildflower has “an exciting partner that supports what we’re doing is going to help us reach the broadest audience possible,” which suggests a potential partnership with a larger publisher like Microsoft. He also shares that he is working with an “amazing team” of people who have previously worked on big-budget Call of Duty titles, as well as experience in smaller titles like Abzu and The Pathless.

The studio is currently hiring, and their first game is “underway,” but there are no concrete details yet about the title or a launch date.