It’s kind of sad when your game is in development for so long staffers leave to form their own studio, only to have games that are probably further in development than the original game.
This is what seems to be happening with two former The Last Guardian devs who have opened a new independent studio dubbed Friend & Foe Games, and they’re already working on two awesome sounding games: Vane and Dangerous Men.
The new studio is based in Tokyo, and it’s made up of five talented developers: accountant, illustrator and “resident wiseman” Ivar Dahlberg; an environmental artist and art director Rasmus Deguchi and finally studio boss Thomas Lilja, who is also working on the sound and music. The two remaining devs are Rui “Mad Dog” Guerreiro, who is tackling the code and art of Vane, and Victor Santaquiteria, who is leading the development of Dangerous Men.
Their previous works span the following titles: The Last Guardian, Battlefield 3, Bionic Commando, Killzone and even more. The team at Friend & Foe is following the “extremely nimble game development” mantra, and is hoping to self fund and self publish its games.
“As many before us, however, we grew tired of working for big companies and chose instead to bet it all on pooling our talents and set out on the great indie adventure we always wanted,” reads a blurb on their official website. “We’re now at a point where we’re ready to start showing our projects to the world. We really hope you enjoy the ride and see what we get up to!”
You can read a bit more about their two new games below:
Dangerous Men is an action arcade-y styled game in the vein of 80’s buddy cop movies. The game’s story revolves around detectives Dan and Don, and their mission to rid their city of the Punk Gang. Dangerous Men is being poised for iOS devices, with traditional consoles to hopefully come later.
Vane (featured at the top of the article) is described as an open world adventure game rife with mystery and exploration, and a focus on atmosphere. The game is evoking a style similar to previous Team Ico games, and it features a child with a strange ability. Players will be tasked with answering the mysteries of the land via puzzle solving, exploration, and “other features yet to be revealed.” Vane is currently in development for PC, with other platforms to be confirmed later.
Both Vane and Dangerous Men are without release dates, and the team is currently listing both games to come out “when it’s done.”
We’ll keep you guys posted.
