He became head of the in-house studio and will report to former Valve and Oculus executive Anna Sweet, who was hired by Bad Robot Games this summer as CEO. The gaming division of Bad Robot Games has existed since 2018 and has already participated in the creation of small games with external teams – for example, the mobile project Spyjinx.

Now Bad Robot Games from Santa Monica, California will have two divisions. The former will continue to partner with external development teams, while the latter will create its own games under the leadership of Mr. Booth, who previously worked at Valve, Blizzard Entertainment, Facebook, and Electronic Arts.

Anna Sweet revealed that Michael Booth, who has recently been director of social VR at Facebook, is leading the team that will create the original game for Bad Robot. According to her, this is a high-profile project for PC and consoles, which aims to immerse players in a cinematic environment.

Ms. Sweet said she was working at Valve when she met the Bad Robot team, who were just beginning to explore games as a means of storytelling. “At one time, we were able to use them in a couple of really cool projects, and I’ve always been a fan of this team, ” she said. “ Being part of a team and trying to unleash their amazing creativity is an incredible opportunity. The worlds Bad Robot creates are usually vast and detailed. One can easily imagine how many different stories unfold in these worlds, which are related not only to film and television. “

Bad Robot Games will also work with Abrams’ film and television hosts on games, leveraging Bad Robot’s strengths. Sweet said the studio will create play directions, worlds, and stories that can exist in a variety of media environments.

“We want to build huge worlds that can be embodied in different media, but do not necessarily start with film or television, ” said Ms. Sweet. – They can appear as games. We just want to create big, exciting universes. We also want to release games that are as fun to watch as they are to play. Bad Robot has a long history of making films that people love. And so we want to bring that experience to the game makers as well. ”

In his new role, Michael Booth will lead a world-class, versatile creative development team that will focus on the first game and future projects. He was the founder of Turtle Rock Studios and has contributed to many iconic game series, including serving as Project Lead and Lead Designer for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (Valve / Turtle Rock Studios) and Nox (EA / Westwood). He has also been part of the creative teams of many other versions of Counter-Strike (Valve), Team Fortress 2 (Valve), Command & Conquer: Generals (EA / Westwood), and C&C Red Alert 2 (EA / Westwood).

“I was fortunate enough to work with Mike in several different companies, ” said Anna Sweet. – We partnered at Valve and Facebook on social VR experiences. Mike is constantly innovating and bringing new ideas to game design. It will be a lot of fun to work with him again in this capacity. I am very glad”.

In a statement, Michael Booth said that in development, he has always sought to bring people together in epic online adventures where games are built around people interacting together to survive in fantasy worlds.

Ms. Sweet added: “We are looking for talent in the industry. What impresses me most is how much the gaming industry has grown and the incredible number of new people who have discovered in 2020 that they love games. I am very glad that I will have a wider and more diverse audience. “

Bad Robot was founded by a filmmaker in 2001. She has produced numerous TV shows, films, interactive content, books, and music. Bad Robot Games currently employs about 14 people, but the team is actively expanding. Anna Sweet said that due to the pandemic, she has not yet visited the headquarters.