Take-Two's Indie Division Signs Three More Studios, Including Ori Developers

After finding big success with its partnership with Obsidian for The Outer Worlds, Take-Two's indie game label Private Division has announced which developers it's partnering with next.

Private Division has signed new publishing deals with Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios, the Australian studio League of Geeks which makes the hit digital board game Armello, and OlliOlli studio Roll7.

"Our partnerships with Moon Studios, League of Geeks, and Roll7 continue to enhance Private Division's roster with more of the game industry' best creative talent from around the world," Private Division boss Michael Worosz said in a statement. "We are thrilled to work alongside these experienced developers to provide them with the support needed to propel their creative visions to the next level."

In terms of the new projects, Moon Studios is making a "compelling new action RPG," Take-Two said in its press release. Co-founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol said they have enjoyed working on Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps for the past 10 years, but the team is now excited about trying something new, and with a new publisher (Microsoft published the Ori series).

"Developing the Ori series over the last decade has been a fantastic experience for our team, and we're thrilled to now be aiming our sights even higher with a new action RPG," Mahler and Korol said in a statement. "We attribute our success to the 'iterative polish' process we use at Moon Studios, and we're continuing that style of development to create a new game that rises above anything we've created thus far."

What this means for the future of the Ori series is unknown.

League of Geeks, meanwhile, are making an "ambitious" new IP. "It's equally important for us to build games with heart that can rally and foster a dedicated community of players, as it is to develop games that are critical, cultural, and commercial successes," League of Geeks co-founder Blake Mizzi said in a statement. "This partnership provides the opportunity for us to grow our studio alongside our ambitions to create something beyond anything we've developed before."

And as for Roll7, the UK studio's new game for Private Division is even less clear. Take-Two only said it is working on the "next jump forward in their mission to create awesome, flow-state games."

"Our titles resonate with players because we strive for super solid game feel, highly refined gameplay, and simple but highly masterable mechanics," Roll7 chief creative officer John Ribbins said in a statement. "We're really excited to be working with Private Division on our next title and we can’t wait for players to get their hands on it. We're raising the bar on our creativity and the scope of our ambition to make this next project our best thing yet."

More details about these three games--all of which are in "early development"--will be announced in the future. None of the games have release dates, or projections of release dates, but Take-Two said the first of the games is not expected to release until Take-Two's fiscal year 2022.

Private Division's biggest success so far is The Outer Worlds, which has sold more than 2 million copies. Developer Obsidian was acquired by Microsoft after the deal with Private Division, but in the future, Microsoft will publish any new Outer Worlds games that may come out.

Private Division also published the recently released shooter Disintegration from Halo veteran Marcus Lehto. Additionally, Private Division published Assassin's Creed Creator Patrice Desilet's new game, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, while the company also publishes the Kerbal Space Program series.

The company was working with former Battlefield and Payday developer David Goldfarb on an intriguing-looking action RPG, but it was not meant to be.

These three new Private Division games are among the 93 titles that Take-Two is working on right now.