Recently, Darrell Gallagher, Studio Head of The Initiative, revealed that acclaimed developers like Brian Westergaard, Annie Lohr, Blake Fischer, Christian Cantamessa, Daniel Neuburger, and Lindsey McQueeney were now a part of the team. Microsoft founded The Initiative last year so that it could build quality Microsoft exclusives like God of War or Uncharted. It seems like the company has the team to do just that because individuals like Westergaard have worked on such games before.
However, it seems like the hiring spree isn't over yet. Today, many gamers noticed that PlayStation's Victoria Miller was now working for The Initiative. She's been with the studio since January 2019 according to her LinkedIn page. Miller helped ship acclaimed games like Detroit: Become Human, Hidden Agenda, The Inpatient, Until Dawn, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, No Man's Sky, Alienation, LittleBigPlanet 3, and Beyond Two Souls.
It's great to see Microsoft hire such talented individuals. Hopefully this will address the concerns many gamers had that Microsoft wasn't producing enough quality first-party exclusives which rivaled those found on the competition. Games like God of War and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild garner a lot of press attention and this is noticed by many gamers who own an Xbox One. Not everyone has the means to purchase every console. It's understandable that people crave comparable experiences on the platform they own.
We'll keep you posted as soon as we know more about what The Initiative is working on. Hopefully the title will be an open-world game which pushes the boundaries of storytelling. More information is expected for E3 2019.
