Announcing Astrogun Indie Studio

Astrogun Announcement

JULY 11, 2012 — The Cloud, The Internet — Video game industry artist and designer Xander Davis today announced the launch of Astrogun Studios LLC ("Astrogun"), focused on producing multiplatform core free-to-play games using the Unity engine with high-concept, deep original intellectual property in the rapidly shifting games industry landscape: iOS (iPhone / iPad), Android, Mac, Windows and now the new Ouya console for HDTVs.

Astrogun backed Ouya as a Founding Developer, granting the start-up studio a unique advantage over others with early access to the Ouya software development kit and a year of promotional support from Ouya for Astrogun's first title on the console.  Ouya (pronounced Ooo-yah) is a new $99 Android-based open console announced on July 10th, with the biggest Kickstarter launch day of all time (earning over $2.6 million in under its first 24 hours) to provide a new living room console destination, primarily to independent developers for the first time ever.  This model much reflects the accessibility and opportunity in the mobile game development arena, but brings independent developers into the spotlight back in the living room.

Ouya - New Console

"I think within the last few days and especially with the Ouya runaway success Kickstarter, we've witnessed the console game industry as we know it implode on itself and re-emerge for more cost-effective studios and accessible platforms," says Astrogun CEO Xander Davis.  "The skyrocketing costs of triple-A games are bankrupting studios and laying off countless hardworking and highly talented people left and right today, already this generation, and it's only going to get exponentially worse by being more expensive in the coming higher-fidelity next generation.  Every major next-gen game is going to need the budget of Avatar, but not every game will do Avatar business.  That's a collapsing house of cards."

Davis concludes, "The next gen will be less about graphics for the first time ever and more about the economy of game development.  Content is king, and actually being able to produce content makes everything else possible."  Part of this era in creating independent games is the unprecedented availability of professional triple-A game engines to anyone initially for free, including Unity, Unreal Engine, and CryEngine, and the accessibility and compatibility of global markets and digital distribution platforms, including the iOS App Store, Steam, and now the Ouya living room console.  These are opportunities that have really only emerged and solidified within the last year.

Astrogun is also launching its official website today at www.astrogun.com, which features frequent behind-the-scenes articles and updates on the production progress of its first game, as well as new freelance contract job openings for art and development.

Astrogun is an independent studio that specializes in designing and building high-concept original intellectual property, producing those properties through quality video games, and managing licensing of those properties for further development in other media.  Astrogun's commitment to building richly developed fictitious worlds, engaging characters and stories, and innovative casual-core gameplay is its paramount focus.  The company was founded by Chief Executive Officer / Chief Creative Officer Xander Davis after Independence Day on July 5th, 2012 as a Limited Liability Company. Part of this belief in independence and the new realities of the game industry is in building scalable teams of talented freelance contractors from anywhere around the world for each project and operating exclusively over 'the Cloud'.

Prior to Astrogun, Xander Davis served as a designer in the triple-A video game industry for Activision Blizzard, High Moon Studios, Trion Worlds, Petroglyph Games, THQ and Vigil Games under the creative direction of comics star Joe Madureira.  He has played direct roles in key areas of production on several high-profile, internationally-released video games with multi-million dollar budgets, including Transformers: War for Cybertron (rated 9.0 "Amazing" by IGN) and Darksiders 2, both for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows, as well as End of Nations, a groundbreaking MMO-RTS for Windows.  Xander was also thanked for his support in the credits of Indie Game: The Movie, which won the Sundance 2012 Official Selection and was optioned by HBO to turn into a series.  Before his work in triple-A games, Xander served as Creative Director of Internet media agency SpinWeb Inc. and has won industry awards for his work in interactive design and branding.

Astrogun's initial team includes Music Composer for Astrogun, François Jolin of Eon Sounds, having produced work for EA, Funcom, Digital Dimension, Le Cirque du Soleil, Astral Media, ArtTv, Traffik Films, Wave Generation, TV5 Canada, Virage Productions, Inis, ONF, Télé-Québec, Radio-Canada, Shockwave.com.  He has worked for productions based in the US, Spain, Italy, and Canada.  His work has been featured at the Short Corner at Cannes in 2011, under Specialties Music and Sound Design for films, documentaries, ads and video games.  His 2-minute reel can be heard here.

The Astrogun team will be expanding as it has already been accepting resumes in stealth and expects to aggressively attract both fresh and seasoned triple-A talent globally after its launch announcement today.

Astrogun is currently focused on producing its unannounced debut title, and will chronicle its production on its website at www.astrogun.com.

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For more information, contact:

Xander Davis
CEO / CCO
Astrogun Studios LLC
[email protected]
www.astrogun.com
http://twitter.com/Astrogun
http://twitter.com/XanderDavisLive

Download the Astrogun Studios Presskit:
http://www.astrogun.com/studio/press-kit/