Game director Stig Asmussen, known for his work on God Of War and later EA’s Star Wars Jedi games, has announced that he will be leaving Respawn to pursue other opportunities, Bloomberg reports. Under his leadership, the single-player Star Wars Jedi titles helped to revitalise EA’s slate of Star Wars games, with both games achieving critical and commercial success.
“After careful thought and consideration, Stig Asmussen has decided to leave Respawn to pursue other adventures, and we wish him the best of luck,” an EA spokesperson said on the announcement. “Veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.”
Jedi: Survivor launched this April, and continues to get updates for performance and quality of life. Asmussen said before Survivor’s launch that the team went into developing the game with plans for a sequel in mind, with an insider reporting developers at Respawn assumed there would be a third Jedi game provided Survivor performed well. With all reports referring to the broader Star Wars: Jedi team, it’s possible that a third game could still go ahead without Asmussen in the lead.
Asmussen has spoken on what went into making both Jedi games happen at Respawn, from fighting Lucasfilm’s reluctance to greenlight a game starring a Jedi, to EA’s hesitance to support single-player games with no multiplayer mode. He also explained how Jedi: Survivor was developed so quickly compared to other AAA titles, even with developers working from home during the pandemic.
Asmussen hasn’t yet revealed what is next for him after leaving Respawn. He previously worked at Santa Monica Studios on the God of War series as lead environment artist and art director, before taking over as game director as of God of War 3.
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