A group of veteran game designers on Wednesday unveiled a fully remote studio focusing on online games that offer meaningful multiplayer interactions.
Co-founded by Chris Bell (Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch, Sky: Children of the Light), Stephen Bell (Blaseball, What Remains of Edith Finch) and Lexie Dostal (Dustforce), Gardens will be based mainly in Portland and Los Angeles.
Its first game will feature a mysterious and magical world, with concept art driven by freelance artist ma-ko and art direction by Leighton Milne (Ashen, The Hobbit). The art team will be led by Ryan Benno (Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank).
“With Gardens, we wanted to create a studio that cares as much about the health, happiness and wellbeing of its team members as we do the craftsmanship of the games we create together,” said Bell in a statement. “Our top priority is making sure our teammates enjoy their lives and are given the tools and resources to grow while creating compelling, well-crafted, thoughtful games that cultivate novel shared experiences between players online.”
Among those involved in Gardens will be developers, engineers and artists from games such as Where Cards Fall, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Skyrim and Fallout. Thus far, the studio has raised $4.5 million in seed funding led by Transcend Fund.
Gardens is currently hiring for several positions, including 3D artist, engineer and animator.
