Improbable, the tech company behind the engine-like SpatialOS, has announced that they will be getting into game development with the founding of two new studios. Moreover, one of those studios is headed by 17-year Bioware veteran Aaryn Flynn, indicating that Improbable is looking to make big moves in the game development space.
Flynn was the former general manager of Bioware during the studio’s biggest years of output and expansion, including overseeing games like Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and more. Flynn left in 2017, handing the reins to Casey Hudson. Flynn confirmed on his Twitter today that the Edmonton studio, which he oversees, is already working on a game.
John Wasilczyk, whose resume includes Call of Duty, DICE, and Fortnite, is heading the London studio which makes up the other half of Improbable’s game development force.
The news comes not that long after Improbable had a very public fight with Unity Technologies over what Unity called misuse of their engine, resulting in both companies accusing each other of lying. That same day, Improbable teamed up with Epic to offer money to developers who switched from Unity to Unreal Engine 4, a deal that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney admitted was conceived and executed within hours. It is unknown if Improbable’s sudden leap into game development is related to their spat with Unity or the fund Epic set up.