The Initiative, Microsoft’s new first-party studio being built in Santa Monica, California, just keeps on growing. This new studio is being led by Darrel Gallagher, former Director at Crystal Dynamics. The newest addition to the team is none other than the former game director of Sunset Overdrive, Drew Murray. A post made on Twitter today confirmed that Drew Murray has joined The Initiative.
Drew Murray has joined The Initiative:Â
Moments away from starting my new job at @MSStudiosBlog The Initiative! pic.twitter.com/NaMsH3Xytd
— Drew Murray (@PlaidKnuckles) November 19, 2018
Drew has previously praised Microsoft’s support during the development of Sunset Overdrive. He’s also worked on other titles at Insomniac Games like Ratchet and Clank and the Resistance franchise. Other major talent being brought in includes Tom Shepherd, former Technical Director at Rockstar Games, Brian Westergaard, developers from Sony Santa Monica, Respawn and Crystal Dynamics. While it’ll likely be a while before we hear about what this team is working on, they’re assembling a strong team.
Earlier this year, Phil Spencer took the stage at E3 2018 to reveal that Microsoft Studios was massively expanding its game studios with five new teams, four acquisitions and one being built from the ground up, The Initiative. The expansion has continued through 2018, with the head of Microsoft Studios, Matt Booty, revealing that Microsoft had acquired Obsidian Entertainment and InXile Entertainment at X018.
