Silver Rain Games is a new studio that has been founded by Abubakar Salim, who played Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins (via GamesIndustry.biz).
“I’ve played [Assassin’s Creed] from the beginning, so to then talk to the programmers, designers, writers, artists, even the testers, and getting to test it myself and to understand what it takes to make a game… it made me realise that there’s a lot of different factors involved,” he said. “You need to build a team, you need a lot of people who are specialised in a specific area, but also who feel the passion to make a game.”
The head of the new studio is Melissa Phillips, who is known for her prolific work with BAFTA and the Young Game Designers programme. Salim and Phillips direct a team of five employees presently, with ambitions to expand to deliver “stories that will empower players” beyond games and into other media. In the interview, Salim stated that the move into game development was a “natural” choice, and that his collaboration with Ubisoft informed his understanding of how a game is made, practically.
Happy to finally announce my new game studio, Silver Rain Games!@silverraingames has been my life & soul these past few months. Designing & building the universes I’m excited to share with you all. With @lilmissphillips, we’re gonna create games that truly shake things up! pic.twitter.com/1oEe95Pi4t
— Abubakar Salim (@Abzybabzy) March 27, 2020
He elaborated to emphasise the importance of cooperation. “I want to make games that tell cool stories and have innovative gameplay, but I know I can’t do that by myself. I need a team of people who know what they’re doing, and who are as passionate as I am about making games,” explained Salim. That’s where Phillips’ expertise comes in. “Abu and I both share a passion for new talent and giving back to the industry,” she said.
Silver Rain Games will create a working environment in which its employees will “feel secure and supported” to “explore ideas that perhaps they wouldn’t usually go with, or to work better as a team.” This adaptability will attract “all sorts of voices,” she hopes. “There’s a lot of talk in the industry about having a diverse team, and that doesn’t necessarily mean diversity as people perhaps consider it. Having a wealth of different backgrounds can really make a difference when it comes to building worlds,” explained Phillips.
Right now, we don’t know what the studio is working on, but it will synchronise its projects with the two sister companies Salim has launched. “The idea is we’ll be able to explore this world within TV and animated film as well, possibly even comic books, too. I want to make sure that universe sings with everyone—that’s my job, as well as writing the story of it all,” he said.
