Google’s Stadia Games and Entertainment opened a new studio. Ex-Sony Santa Monica head Shannon Studstill is stepping in as studio director.
Back at Santa Monica studio, Studstill oversaw the development of the God of War series and other franchises.
God of War (2018)
“I’ve been a fan of Shannon’s for a long time, and have admired her award-winning work leading Sony’s Santa Monica Studio and the industry defining franchises like God of War that have won fans all over the world,” commented Jade Raymond, Stadia Games and Entertainment VP.
The new studio is located in Los Angeles’ Playa Vista district. It will develop Stadia exclusives based on original IP and novel mechanics.
While Google’s cloud gaming platform did not exactly have a strong launch, the tech giant is by no means sending its ambitious project to its digital graveyard, as many devs think it might. Stadia Games and Entertainment keeps growing its headcount to ship exclusive content for Stadia as soon as possible. Last October, Stadia launched its first internal studio, which has been subsequently reinforced with former Assassin’s Creed devs. And in December, Stadia Games and Entertainment acquired Typhoon Games.
As for Santa Monica Studio, it will now be headed by Yumi Yang, “a 19-year PlayStation veteran with an extensive background in product development and heavy involvement across many of Santa Monica Studio’s biggest games.