Soren-Johnson
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Civilization 4 lead designer starts Mohawk Games
Soren Johnson, best known for being the lead designer on Civilization 4, has founded Mohawk Games through the Stardock Strategic Investment Fund. The founding of the studio was hinted at by Stardock CEO Brad Wardell earlier this year, who will serve as president of the company. Rounding out the trinity of co-founders is Dorian Newcomb, another award-winning alum of the Civilization series, who will act as art director. "Our goal is to make games that will be played for years, based on elegant, replayable systems that are not limited by finite content creation," said Johnson. "Our development process emphasizes rapid iteration above all else, requiring our games to be playable as soon as possible so that we have time to find the fun." The Baltimore-based studio is currently recruiting top game industry talent and has begun development on its first game, which will use the Nitrous Engine, created by Oxide Games. Oxide happens to be another studio formed of Civ vets funded by Wardell's Stardock. At least now we know what Wardell did with some of that Impulse sale money.
Stardock announces dev investment fund, showing two new games this year
Developer Stardock has announced the beginning of an investment fund to support up-and-coming developers. When Stardock sold distribution service Impulse to GameStop, it earned "some unprecedented opportunities," says CEO Brad Wardell. The fiscal boon will help "to keep Stardock small and invest in start-ups."These spinoffs, says Wardell, "should produce things that will help future start-ups in the technology industry." Some of the partnerships are already underway, though "not far enough along in what they're working on to publicize anything." Wardell's plan is to reveal more about the fund this summer, with news about the companies involved coming later.Elsewhere in Stardock's customer report, Wardell says the company's internal teams are toward two new games to be revealed this year. One or both games may be the result of Stardock's work with consultant Soren Johnson, the former lead designer on Civilization 4.Wardell also says Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion was "immensely successful," and that we can expect more from that series in the future.
Civ 4 lead's consulting gig at Stardock followed Zynga layoffs, still deciding his future
Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civilization 4, has clarified his role at Stardock following company CEO Brad Wardell's announcement his studio had secured Johnson "at least for a while, to oversee the design of all our games."Johnson tells Joystiq that Zynga's decision to shutter its Baltimore studio last week left him jobless and he quickly jumped into a role as a consultant at the developer famous for its Galactic Civilization franchise."Brad Wardell and I wanted to work together for a while, so I immediately started a consulting job with Stardock to help them with their current projects," Johnson said in an email to Joystiq. " I am, however, still trying to decide what my next permanent position is going to be."Late last year Stardock launched Elemental: Fallen Enchantress, previously the studio released Rebellion, an expansion to the real-time strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire. Prior to his stint at Zynga, Johnson had worked at Maxis as part of the team that developed Spore.
Soren Johnson joins Stardock, 'at least for a while' [Update]
Soren Johnson, who you may remember as Civilization 4's lead designer, has joined Stardock to oversee the design of the developer's entire line of upcoming titles."We've brought on board someone many of you know – Soren Johnson (designer of Civilization IV) who has come to Stardock, at least for awhile, to oversee the design of all our games," Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said on his company's official forums. "I think his impact on our upcoming (think 2014/2015/2016) will be pretty obvious."Up until now, Johnson (not pictured above) had maintained his post at Zynga as design director, after joining the company in September of 2011. Prior to that, Johnson spent over four years as a lead designer and programmer at Electronic Arts, working on such games as Spore. We've reached out to Stardock for more information about Johnson's role in the company, and what the temporary qualifier in the announcement may signify, if anything.Update: A Stardock representative has clarified to Joystiq that Soren Johnson is only working as a consultant at the developer, and is not on staff. Joystiq has contacted Johnson for clarification on his position at Zynga.
Creating balanced virtual economies
Game designer Soren Johnson has written an opinion piece titled "Game Economics", essentially his analysis of the sticky problem of creating a balanced game economy, which is of course integral to massively multiplayer online games. Johnson has worked as a designer and programmer on titles like Civilization 3, Civilization 4, and Spore, and his "Game Economics" originally appeared in Game Developer Magazine. Johnson writes, "Game design and economics have a spotty history. Designing a fun and functional economy is no easy task as many design assumptions tend to backfire when they come into contact with the player." He discusses a few MMO economies in light of this issue. He mentions the early game economy issues with Ultima Online, and how things have since progressed to the auction houses of World of Warcraft, and even how CCP Games hired an economist to analyze the economy of EVE Online. The bulk of his article isn't necessarily MMO-centric, but no less interesting a read. [Via GameSetWatch]
From Firaxis to Maxis: Civ IV designer leaves to work on Spore
Soren Johnson, lead designer for Civilization IV, has left his nearly seven-year gig at Firaxis to work on Will Wright's Spore. Johnson had previously worked with Spore publisher Electronic Arts when he interned there and programmed for the PlayStation titles Knockout Kings 2000 and 2001. The news originally surfaced earlier today on Civilization site Apolyton and was later confirmed by Electronic Arts, according to GameSpot. The decision requires Johnson to move from Maryland to California. There is no indication as to why Johnson left Firaxis or in what facet he is helping with Spore this late in the game's development cycle. (The title, having been in development since 2000, is scheduled for release by the end of this year.) Of course, there's the obvious possibility he'll be helping out with the civilization phase of the game. Johnson's personal blog has not been updated since this year's Game Developers Conference. As Gamasutra notes, Johnson had been working on an original IP for Firaxis; its fate is currently unknown.
Sid Meier, Soren Johnson on state of games
GameSpy spoke with industry luminary Sid Meier and Civilization IV co-designer Soren Johnson at DICE last month. The Firaxis dynamic duo weighed in on everything from the state of PC gaming to World of Warcraft to escalating game budgets. Here are some quick takes: Meier: "I think there are a lot of opportunities for the PC to make a comeback. It has some inherent strengths. Connectivity, certainly. Massively multiplayer games. Email! The things that a PC does well, what snuck it into the home in the first place, is still there." Johnson: "I think the thing is, if you're going to make a multiplayer game, the days of trying to 'shoehorn' in multiplayer are over. As an aside, I think we're almost reaching a point where single-player games are getting under-served. One reason I really enjoy World of Warcraft is that there's so few good single-player RPGs for the PC right now."
