Stig Asmussen, known as the Game Director on both Star Wars Jedi games and before that for his work on the original God of War trilogy, has left Respawn Entertainment.
The news was broken a few hours ago by Bloomberg, who also relayed the following brief statement from an Electronic Arts rep.
After careful thought and consideration, Stig Asmussen has decided to leave Respawn to pursue other adventures, and we wish him the best of luck. Veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Respawn Entertainment had a history of making shooter games due to its founders’ Call of Duty heritage and the first two Titanfall games. However, they recruited Stig Asmussen specifically to expand in the action/adventure genre, and the Star Wars Jedi games were very successful.
The first one was credited for contributing to Electronic Arts’ new stance on single player games, leading to the upcoming Dragon Age game abandoning any live service elements. As of June 2021, it had registered over 20 million players between purchases and subscription services.
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order was so successful that Respawn immediately set on making a sequel, which launched earlier this year, only three and a half years after the first installment.
Survivor also reviewed well (despite some performance issues still being ironed out via updates), earning an 8.3 out of 10 score here on Wccftech.
While Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a surprise journey when it was first released, the time spent apart hasn’t made Cal Kestis’ adventures any less enjoyable. A similar framework in unfamiliar territories helps to establish Star Wars: Jedi: Survivor as a quality sequel to the original release. Jedi: Survivor still plays it safe in comparison to the prior game. It may be difficult to give it full marks for its individuality, but compared to the predecessor focused on Cal’s time as a Jedi Padawan, each title can stand up on its own merits, and Jedi: Survivor polishes up much of the experience as it propels the narrative ever forward on Cal Kestis’ journey to Tanalorr.
It also sold more than the original, at least in the United Kingdom, though EA didn’t provide any sales milestones yet. Asmussen likely had personal reasons to leave Respawn.
