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Former GTA Boss's Ambitious New Game Enlists Another Studio

The studio is headed up by the former boss of Crytek Hungary.

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A third studio is now at work on Everywhere, the new game from former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies.

This one is located in Budapest, according to a report from GamesIndustry.biz. It's being led by former Crytek Hungary head Kristoffer Waardahl and "already contains a number of veteran developers with triple-A, mobile, and VR experience."

"To develop and build a beautiful open-world game is one of our core passions and it resonates deeply with the team," Waardahl told the site. "When we heard Leslie's vision for the game we jumped at the opportunity to join Everywhere and are delighted to be part of the core team bringing the game alive."

We still don't know much about Everywhere. Benzies incorporated new studios in January, and soon after, he revealed the first details of the new game.

"Everywhere has a lot of traditional game mechanics, but we're going for something more that draws inspiration from, well, everywhere," Benzies said. "Players are getting smarter and require more from their games, and we want players to have the real freedom to live in our worlds in the ways they want to. We're aiming to offer a huge variety of game modes and styles that not only tell our stories but also enable players to live in the identities and adventures they most want to explore."

Matthew Smith, another former GTA developer who's working on the game, added that the goal is to provide an "enormous amount of freedom, with enough possibilities and just enough constraints to keep you constantly entertained and at the same time feel like you’re actively shaping the world around you, and living in a genuinely alternate reality."

Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V

The project sounds like a blend of Grand Theft Auto and Second Life, though Benzies has claimed it's "very different from GTA."

"There may be parts of our game that include satire but the tone will be very different and at times our players will be in control of how the tone is set," he said.

In addition to the new Budapest studio, new offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Los Angeles, California are also at work on Everywhere.

There's currently no date for Everywhere's release or when we'll actually be seeing and hearing more about the game. Benzies is currently in the midst of suing Rockstar.

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