[UPDATED] McCaig talks Respawn art work

[UPDATED: This article has been modified from its original headline of ‘McCaig: First Respawn game set for 2015’ – Respawn and McCaig have both since clarified the comments around the timing of the studio’s first game.]

Iain McCaig, the concept artist behind numerous iconic designs across the film and games industries, has said that he wouldn’t be able to publicly discuss his work on the hotly anticipated first title from Respawn Entertainment until around 2015.

And that’s at least a year or so after the game’s release.

Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton in a session titled ‘Showtime!’, McCaig said that he was excited by the current convergence that is taking place across the major entertainment industries, with reference to his impressive career across the visual storytelling sector.

“Thanks to the internet, you can take things and use them as you want, no matter what the law says about it. I think this means there will be a whole new way of using and sharing things,” he said. [Editor’s note: the implication here being about the proliferation of content online, not advocating piracy.]

“I’m having the most fun working with Respawn Entertainment right now, and I hate that I can’t show you guys what I’m doing there until 2015.”

The statement has been made just a few weeks after the Respawn Entertainment website went live, with the first details and blurred images of the initial game that the studio is working on.

Considering the tumultuous history that the studio already has, with the ongoing legal action that it’s founders Vince Zampella and Jason West are involved in – as well as the massively successful franchises that pair have already overseen the development of – interest in this new game is considerable.

McCaig has worked on a huge array of games and films over the course of his career. He created the original character concepts for the more recent Star Wars trilogy, including designs for Darth Maul and Queen Amidala.

In games, he created characters for three James Bond titles, and was central in the art design of The Secret of Monkey Island, as well as numerous other projects.

But despite these milestones, the highly enthusiastic McCaig said working with Respawn is “the most exhilarating experience I’ve ever had in my career”.