Starfield's lead quest designer, Will Shen, has announced that he is joining the development team of the highly anticipated open-world role-playing game (RPG), Wyrdsong. He joins Something Wicked Games, a fledgling studio made up of other industry veterans hailing from illustrious game developers such as Bethesda, Obsidian, Respawn, and BioWare.
Shen not only spearheaded quest design for this year's ambitious sci-fi Starfield, but he has an impressive portfolio that includes other hits from Bethesda. He was a quest designer and writer for Skyrim and Fallout 4, even being the lead designer for the popular Fallout 4's Far Harbor DLC (downloadable content). His role at Something Wicked Games will be the lead content designer for their debut game, Wyrdsong.
Wyrdsong is a distinctive open-world RPG that transports players to a reimagined version of medieval Portugal, a land plagued by ominous cults and eerie supernatural happenings. The minimalistic trailer released last summer barely reveals the game's contents, showcasing primarily artistic illustrations of celestial bodies and horned creatures.
Something Wicked Games, despite the elusive nature of their upcoming game, has high hopes for it. They aim to provide gamers with "a high-quality, new AAA RPG experience" that plans to "redefine aspects of the RPG genre as a whole". They want their game to challenge the players to reconsider their reality and their in-game choices.
The studio indeed has the brainteaser roster to back up their lofty claims. Alongside Shen, the team includes co-founder Jeff Gardiner, a seasoned Bethesda veteran who led the Fallout 76 project, and other developers who have played roles in crafting renowned games like Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Charles Staples, the other co-founder and design director of Something Wicked Games, brings another hefty chunk of experience to the table. His repertoire includes the design director for The Outer Worlds and the lead level designer for South Park: The Stick of Truth during his time at Obsidian.
In order to achieve the grand vision for Wyrdsong, an Unreal Engine 5 game, Something Wicked Games is planning to expand their team to over 100 members. As of now, they're nearly halfway there, with around 40 on their squad. If these trends continue, we can anticipate a list of notable names from the gaming industry being added to this ambitious project soon.
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