A group of ex-BioWare, Bethesda, and Naughty Dog veterans have banded together to create a new US-based studio called Near Studios, and it’s already hard at work on its first project.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Near Studios is currently working on a project by the name of Hawthorn, which will, according to early players of the game cited by the studio itself, combine “an intimate Skyrim sandbox” with “a Stardew Valley village simulation”.
Near Studios will be headed up by CEO Heather Cerlan, whose previous experience includes work with the likes of Wizards of the Coast, Naughty Dog, and EA, as well as Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media.
Other staffers at Near include ex-Funcom and BioWare staffer Jason Richardson, who’ll serve as Hawthorn‘s game director, as well as Bruce Nesmith, the lead designer on Skyrim.
Richardson says that Hawthorn revolves around “a living village of NPCs and your co-op friends”, and that the goal with the game is to “evoke the nostalgic joy and wonder of shared adventures”.
Hawthorn will take place in a location called Windermere Valley, and you’ll play as a tiny little woodland creature looking to build a life for yourself in this idyllic rural pasture. To do so, you’ll recruit villagers, explore the world around you, and build up your village by harvesting crops, fishing, and farming.
Near Studios promises the ability to solve conflicts without resorting to violence, as well as “random events that make each player’s sandbox story unique”, an “enchanting yet believable world”, and “memorable NPCs” with their own personalities and backstories.
If you’re (quite reasonably) morally opposed to AI art, you may want to note that Hawthorn will use AI-generated art “significantly edited by humans” for its “placeholder 2D art and iconography” during its pre-alpha development stage.
You can wishlist Hawthorn right now on PC via Steam if you want to keep up with its progress. It doesn’t have a release date or window as yet, so we’ll likely hear more in the coming months.
