Project Uknown

Days Gone director joins Crystal Dynamics for a new project

Jeff Ross, former director of the Sony Bend Studio title, confirms his latest career move after leaving the PlayStation studio at the end of 2020.

Update: Apr 6th, 2022 18:31 CEST

Jeff Ross, co-director of Days Gone with John Garvin, has announced on his personal Twitter account that he is joining Crystal Dynamics, a subsidiary studio of Square Enix, as design director. Following his departure from SIE Bend Studio at the end of 2020, the creative now joins the studio at the new offices in Bellevue, Washington, to work on a new project.

Jeff Ross joins Crystal Dynamics' new offices in Bellevue, Washington

Crystal Dynamics has been in the news for some time now for a variety of reasons. While the project Ross is joining has not been revealed due to the ambiguity of his message, it is clear that the studio has several projects in the works. Not just one.

The first is the one that has just been confirmed: in August 2018, Square Enix opened a new headquarters for Crystal Dynamics called Crystal Northwest in Seattle, Bellevue, in the state of Washington. It is there that some of the development of Marvel's Avengers has taken shape.

I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director. That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people.

I will become a Seattleite this summer.

Also--Come work with me! https://t.co/HjDFIFk7MF
— Jeff Ross (@JakeRocket) April 5, 2022

The second is Crystal Southwest in Austin, Texas, which is working on new studio titles. In this regard, we know that Crystal Dynamics has become a key part of The Initiative's (Xbox Game Studios) development of Perfect Dark.

In any case, we don't know if Jeff Ross is part of the development of the new Tomb Raider, announced last Tuesday as one of the main exponents of Unreal Engine 5.

Remembering Jeff Ross' departure from Sony Bend Studio; it wasn't exactly the best one

It was last December 2020 when we officially learned that the directors of Days Gone were leaving SIE Bend Studio. John Garvin, creative director and screenwriter, and Jeff Ross, director, announced on their social media profiles that they had decided to leave and take a new professional path. Previously, and unofficially, journalistic sources pointed out that things were not going well in the Oregon offices after the launch of the title.

Crystal Dynamics is working on Perfect Dark alongside The Initiative.

Ross has detailed how complex it was to develop the title; to the point of describing one of the game's battles as "terrible". The highlight of his statements, now far from PlayStation, is that they confirmed the existence of Days Gone 2, a project that was in the company's plans.

Bloomberg noted that SIE Bend Studio became involved in Naughty Dog projects after finishing Days Gone. The team was split in two in early 2020, with one part of the staff working on a new Uncharted installment and another part participating in Naughty Dog's current multiplayer project. This prompted the departure of Garvin and Ross.

The reality? As far as is known, SIE Bend Studio is working on a new IP with multiplayer elements.

Source | Jeff Ross