Halo trio form Moonshot Games

Three developers who worked at Bungie on the Halo trilogy have formed a new independent outfit, Moonshot Games.

Having been heavily involved in one of the most lucrative and big-budget game series in history, the Moonshot founders have made a wholesale reversal to their game design philosophy, now pledging to build small downloadable titles on a modest budget.

“The Moonshot team firmly believes that the stars need not be limited to multimillion-dollar projects supported by armies of ground crew,” read a statement from the new studio.

The developer has opened two offices within the US.

The studio’s Seattle headquarters will be led by managing director Michel Bastien, who himself once acted as production lead of Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Moonshot’s Boston office, meanwhile will be headed up by Damián Isla, who worked on Halo games as AI and gameplay engineer lead.

Joining the two is the group’s new creative director, Rob Stokes, who worked on the Halo series as a writer, mission designer, and design lead.

The group has not revealed which platforms it is looking to develop for, nor has it discussed how it is being funded. The group has implied, however, that it is already working on new projects, with “research, planning, and prototyping already well underway”.