Jerry Hook has founded a new AAA game studio,Jar of Sparks, along with a team of developers from a variety of high-profile franchises. In an interview with IGN, the343 Industriesveteran discussed some of the studio’s goals, future plans, and creative philosophy.Jerry Hook is an “Xbox Live founding veteran” as he states in his Twitter bio, with an impressive career dating back to 2003 managing Xbox Live in its early days. Hook worked onHalo 4andHalo 5before parting with Microsoft in 2015 and joining Bungie to work on theDestinyfranchise. Although he would eventually return to Microsoft and 343 Industries asHead of Design forHalo Infinite, he left the studio once more in March 2022 to “relax and recharge,” while teasing “Next Saga coming soon” on LinkedIn. It appears that the next saga he mentioned involves the founding of a brand-new AAA studio.RELATED:Halo Veteran Developer Joins 343 Industries to Work on Halo InfiniteHook’s new studio is called Jar of Sparks and its mission is “to create a new generation of narrative-driven action games in a new world.” Founding team members include Paul Crocker, lead narrative director of theBatman: Arkhamtrilogy and associatecreative director of 343 Industries, Greg Stone, producer forHalo Wars 2,Halo infinite, andDoom(2016), and Steve Dyck, who worked onSSX,NBA Street,Halo 4andHalo 5. There’s a lot of career overlap within the studio consisting of people who have likely worked closely together in the past, an important advantage for a small team intent on delivering AAA-quality games.
Hook estimates that the studio’s first game is at least three-to-four years away, but insists that the game will not be a live-service game. Although Hook has had a long career working with live services such as Xbox Live andDestiny, he believes it’s too much risk and would bog down the team with the continual work needed to maintain a live service game. Citingsuccessful lower-budget titles likeValheimandV Rising,Hook intends to operate on a reasonable budget centered around a small but extraordinary team. He envisions a small studio delivering quality titles with no more than a few million dollars rather than shooting for $300 million funding goals and competing with the likes ofGod of War.
Jar of Sparks is partnered with Chinese publishing firm NetEase which has examined the risk of investing in an innovative studio and clearly believes in the potential behind the team. NetEase has had licensing deals for the Chinese versions of major titles includingBlizzard’sWorld of Warcraft,Starcraft II, andOverwatch,along withMinecraftandEVE Online.
