In 2018, Microsoft started a major expansion to its gaming ambitions. Not only did the company buy stellar studios like inXile Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, and Playground Games, but it also hired a lot of industry veterans to help with new franchises and roles. While we all know about The Initiative and how its accumulating some of the most talented people in the industry, we haven't heard much about the environment artists joining the team. Luckily, that changed today because Justin Walters announced that he was now the Senior Environment Artist at The Initiative.
According to a report by TiCGN, Walters worked at Avalanche Studios as a Senior Environment Artist on Just Cause 4. He's also been a part of many other important games over the years. Walters wrote the following on his LinkedIn profile.
I'm currently working as a Senior Environment Artist for The Initiative in Santa Monica, California. Previous shipped titles include Just Cause 4, Star Wars Battlefront II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, Doom, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Shadow of Mordor, and Star Wars: The Old Republic... I love making games and am always striving to become a continually skilled and efficient artist.
It's great to see that such an experienced environment designer is joining the team. Hopefully Microsoft will at least tease the project during E3 2019.
We can't wait to see what sorts of changes and experiences Walters brings to The Initiative in 2019 and beyond. All I can say is that it's definitely an exciting time to be an Xbox One owner right now.
