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Insomniac Goes Into Open Development With Slow Down, Bull
Insomniac, who is diligently at work at this fall’s Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive, is conducting an experiment. The studio is embarking on its first open development project (and its first PC game).
Many don’t realize that despite its presence on consoles for so long, Insomniac is still an independent studio (though maybe not quite how that term is used today). The developer has tapped designer Lisa Brown to lead a small team on a project called Slow Down, Bull.
Following in the footsteps of Double Fine’s Amnesia Fortnight and Vlambeer’s Nuclear Throne, Insomniac will be creating Slow Down, Bull will be streamed throughout development. The title is being built by a team of four or five people in Unity.
The game features a bull named Axel who “loves to collect beautiful things.” As you might expect though, he’s a bull, which means that he tends to succumb to his ingrained behaviors like charging (and, we presume, snorting).
The first stream of Slow Down, Bull’s development will take place on Friday, June 27 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific / 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Insomniac's Twitch Channel. You can also check back in on the Slow Down, Bull section of Insomniac’s website for updates in between streams.
[Source: Insomniac]
Our Take
I’m interested to see how open development impacts more established studios like Insomniac and Epic (who is doing something similar with a new Unreal Tournament title). Usually, projects are further along before fans get to rant or rave about a title. This exposes the process (and the creators), but at the same time has the capacity to engender trust and loyalty from players. It worked for Double Fine, and it could work for Insomniac.
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