EA’s former chief design officer and DICE founder Patrick Söderlund has announced Embark Studios, a new development house that has, according to a press release, set its sights on using emerging tech to create “new types of interactive entertainment and simulated virtual online worlds.”
The Stockholm-based studio already has captured the attention of MapleStory creator Nexon, so much so that the online game-focused company has signed on both as “the sole strategic equity investor” in Embark and as the publisher for the dev’s future games.
“I believe games are on the cusp of changing radically, thanks to new technologies,” said Patrick Söderlund in a press release. “Connected players, big data, speech recognition, cloud computing, advanced AI and more will open up new play, enabling developers to build a wider range of experiences, and for players to create and contribute. Embark is a group of veteran creators eager to move beyond current play experiences into the future.”
Söderlund himself takes on the role of CEO at the newly founded studio and will join Nexon’s Board of Directors in March.