J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Games Forms In-House Studio Led by Left 4 Dead Creator

J.J. Abrams' production company Bad Robot Productions has formed an in-house studio for developing games within its Bad Robot Games branch, the company announced this week. This studio will aptly be called "Bad Robot Games Studio," and on top of it already being a part of the company owned by J.J. Abrams, it'll have other well-known names from the gaming industry filling different positions. An original, AAA game is already in the works within the studio.

The forming of Bad Robot Games was announced back in 2018 when it was decided that Bad Robot Productions would partner with developers to create games after striking a deal with Tencent. This new in-house studio within Bad Robot Games has Michael Booth as the general manager, a veteran developer who's worked with Valve, Blizzard Entertainment, and other organizations over the years. His most recent position as the director of social VR at Facebook.

"My career has been driven by a desire to innovate new ways of bringing people together for epic adventures online, leaving them with exciting stories they can tell their friends afterwards," Booth said in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "The games I create center around people working together to survive and thrive in fantastic worlds, which seems an excellent fit for JJ Abrams' approach to moviemaking. As a huge fan of JJ's work, I'm incredibly excited by the unique opportunity to create something new at Bad Robot Games Studios in collaboration with the world class talent at Bad Robot

Booth joins Anna Sweet who was previously appointed to the position of CEO within Bad Robot Games. Sweet's known for her work at both Valve and Oculus, and both her and Booth previously worked together at Valve and Facebook.

Specifics on the new game in production within Bad Robot Games Studio haven't been shared other than the fact that it's a AAA game that'll be developed for both PC and consoles. In a statement shared with VentureBeat, Sweet said the title will encompass both traditional players as well as streaming audiences in a co-op-cinematic experience.

As for other projects, Bad Robot Games will work with the parent production company to create games based on Bad Robot properties.