Woah! King of the Nerds, master of the mystery box, and keeper (and to some destroyer) of our nostalgia, JJ Abrams is broadening his horizons and entering the world of gaming! You read that right, JJ Abrams and his company Bad Robot – the company that brought us Cloverfield, LOST, Fringe, Super 8, several Mission: Impossible movies, and many others – have partnered with Chinese tech company Tencent and Warner Brothers to develop large scale and indie games for the PC, console and mobile markets.
Tencent has a huge footprint in the mobile and console game market. The are the developers of the popular mobile game Honor of Kings; as well as owns developers Riot (League of Legends), Supercell (Clash of Clans) and has a stake in Epic (Fortnite). This relationship grants Tencent exclusive distribution rights of Bad Robot Games in Asia, a strategic move for the company as it grows its portfolio.
“I’m a massive games fan, and increasingly envious of the amazing tools developers get to work with, and the worlds they get to play in. Now we are doubling down on our commitment to the space with a unique co-development approach to game making that allows us to focus on what we do best, and hopefully be a meaningful multiplier to our developer partners,” said Abrams in a press release announcing the partnership.
Dave Baronoff will serve as head of the newly created company. Baronoff has lead the interactive and gaming division of Bad Robot for several years now so this move makes sense as it allows him to focus in a pure play gaming company now.
“Dave’s creativity, deep passion and skillful leadership will be incredibly valuable as we harness our partner Tencent’s expertise, experience and reach to bring our games to audiences around the world.” Said Abrams.
I, for one, am super excited to see what comes out of Bad Robot Games. Do I finally get to play as Sawyer on the island, fighting against “the others”? Or maybe some non-Lego versions of The Force Awakens? Whatever we get, I’m sure they’re going to be wild rides – with quick and confusing endings. I can’t wait!
