PlayStation veterans found new studio to develop NFT game ‘Ashfall’

PlayStation veterans Michael Mumbauer and John Garvin are forming a new development studio called Liithos and their first game will be an NFT game called Ashfall.

Mumbauer spent over a decade at PlayStation. His final role was head of the visual arts team where he worked on titles like Uncharted and The Last of Us. He left PlayStation to found the development studio That’s No Moon, but left the role shortly after.

Garvin previously worked at Bend Studio where he acted as the creative director for Days Gone. Since leaving, he has admitted that he was fired for engaging in heated arguments in the studio and not having good people skills.

Ashfall is being described as “the first true Web 3.0 AAA title for PC, console and the Hedera network.” The game will operate using Hedera’s cryptocurrency, HBAR. The game’s scavenging mechanics will contain an element of exclusivity which would suggest NFTs have a large part to play in Ashfall.

In a statement given by Liithos, the premise of Ashfall was described as “…players fighting to survive a world scarred by global warming, the ignited volcanic Ring-of-Fire, mysterious and disruptive energy fields, and warring enclaves, beginning as a connected single player adventure that will evolve into a multiplayer PVP & PVE cinematic transmedia world.”

Garvin will be writing a digital comic book in tandem with DC Comics’ Brett Booth in order to launch the universe of Ashfall. The studio already has its eyes on a media franchise as Garvin said in a statement that he would like to see their world explored in “other media” as well as in video games.

Earlier in the year, a survey found 72 per cent of game developers had no interest in cryptocurrency, and 70 per cent weren’t interested by NFTs.

In other news, Blizzard has said the first update for Diablo: Immortal is still a few weeks out. The update will focus on the battle pass, with story content coming later.