District 9 director Neill Blomkamp announces his first video game project
The Elysium helmsman will work on a AAA shooter game.
Well, this is exciting! We have a moviemaker looking to make the switch to making video games, and it's a person we think could well be the perfect fit to do it.
Neill Blomkamp, known for hit movies such as District 9 and Chappie (as well as developing an Alien movie for a while, which had us all excited until it was shelved) is the man in question and it sounds like quite the ambitious gaming project.
Far from a small indie release, this is said to be a fully-fledged AAA shooter title with the focus on providing a solid multiplayer experience for gamers – we’re interested.
A new developer, Gunzilla Games, has hired him to be their Chief Visionary Officer and while he has admitted that he is not exactly clued in on how to make games, he made a point of saying that he will be surrounded by many people who are.
Speaking to IGN, Blomkamp has said that his role at the studio will be as “an egalitarian version of being a film director” which does sound right up his street. The part that he will play does seem like it will be a significant one with him adding that he will be bringing “directorial skills" that he has picked up from his movie-making to "the aesthetic of the game” – so look for this one, and future titles, to have a tight story.
Vlad Korolev, CEO and co-founder of Gunzilla Games has also spoken about the hiring, saying: “As Chief Visionary Officer, Neill will be a key member of our team. Adding the perspective of filmmaking to video game development brings interactive entertainment to the next level. We all share the same vision, and Neill is the perfect completion to the narrative and visual art lead roles in our team. We are extremely proud that he is joining us - while we are creating our own universe, some of our inspiration originates in his works.
We always hoped we can add a bit of his magic to our game - now this is happening. The team have been working hard on pre-production over the past year - having Neill joining us at this stage is bringing us closer to fulfilling our mission of delivering the next evolution of shooter games.”
Blomkamp has long been a fan of gaming and he has dabbled in the world before, albeit from a different perspective. He directed a short film, Conviction, that was tied to Anthem and he was involved in the Halo movie that, like his Alien idea, sadly never got off the ground.
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And this is not the only huge project on his radar as the long-awaited sequel to District 9, known currently as District 10, looks like it is moving forward and will switch the setting from South Africa to America.
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