New Activision Studio Working On Open World With “Emergent Gameplay”

Activision has launched a new studio under the name Elsewhere Entertainment set to develop an open world game with “emergent gameplay.” While no games have been labeled as competitors, it’s largely believed this XBOX-backed project would try to give Grand Theft Auto and Cyberpunk a run for their money.

According to an MP1st report, Activision is in the midst of hiring for the studio, which is headed by ex-Naughty Dog and CD Projekt Red staff. The big role named in the report was an Associate Animation Director responsible for “guiding the development of scalable animation systems that support emergent gameplay, contextual behaviors, and dynamic world interactions.”

The thing that piques my interest here is the emergent gameplay angle, which basically means the AI interacts with itself in ways that the dev didn’t script, such as gunfights caused by a stray bullet caused by a third NPC’s action. Additionally, reactive gameplay is also being touted, which is basically something of a soft memory system or changes to the environment over time.

At this time, it’s up in the air what exactly Elsewhere has up their sleeve, but what I can say is the last time Activision took on the open world scene was Prototype 2 all the way back in 2012. That’s right, Activision hasn’t dabbled in open worlds since.