Thatgamecompany vets form studio to remake IGF finalist

Two developers from Journey and Flower developer Thatgamecompany have opened The Willderness, a new studio in Los Angeles that will remake indie co-op puzzle-platformer Way. Originally developed by a group of students at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, Way was selected as a Student Showcase winner and a Nuovo award finalist (for unconventional games) at this year's Independent Games Festival. The Willderness is so far made up of three members, including co-founder Chris Bell, who designed Way and went on to serve as a producer and designer at Thatgamecompany as the studio worked on critically acclaimed PlayStation Network game Journey. He's joined by two other CMU alumni: John Nesky, who also worked on Journey while he was the "feel engineer" at Thatgamecompany; and Walt Destler, who programmed Way and previously worked at companies like Schell Games and Walt Disney Imagineering. The new developer is hiring for a couple of positions as it looks to remake and evolve Way -- originally released for Windows and Mac with a free Alpha build -- for commercial release. Other members from the Coco & Co. team that helped create the original Way have not joined the studio. [Update: The Willderness' Bell has informed Gamasutra that the announcement of a Way remake was "presumptuous," and that the company has not formally announced its existence.]