Former WoW and League dev announces new MMO & studio

Former World of Warcraft and League of Legends developer Greg Street has launched a new AAA studio with their first project, an MMO codenamed Ghost.

The new studio, Fantastic Pixel Castle, is being headed up by the former Lead Game Designer at Riot Games, with the goal of producing a AAA MMO in collaboration with Chinese gaming behemoth Netease. The studio announced its formation in a tweet, along with its long-term plans for the project.

Commendably, the website for the studio and game actually gives away a fair amount of detail on what the project will be like, with Ghost set to take place in a “new fantasy universe.”

The current team of 14 features a stacked line-up of industry veterans who will be developing the game entirely remotely.

The MMO will launch with a new fantasy world for players to explore

The pitch for the game’s as-yet-unnamed world is undoubtedly compelling. The pitch promises a sky filled with “seemingly endless shards of broken worlds” and “a cornucopia of biomes that promise unlimited adventure and mystery.”

Hello! 👋

We are Fantastic Pixel Castle, a new games studio making an epic AAA MMORPG codenamed Ghost.

To learn more about our studio and vision for Ghost, visit our website at https://t.co/34jbooP5JE.

1/3 pic.twitter.com/ZdGYJABs23

— Fantastic Pixel Castle (@FPCStudio) November 2, 2023

The real USP of Ghost would seem to be its approach to servers or realms. Players will be able to alternate between Blue Shards, populated by the player and their immediate friend group. At the same time, Red Shards will deliver a more traditional MMO experience with a far larger community.

Blue Shards will offer an experience similar to modern multiplayer survival games, with a small social group able to adventure in the environment and build bases. Red Shards is described as the “signature experience,” and those will host the game’s most challenging content. The idea would be to rotate between the two regularly to experience everything on offer fully.

It’s very early days for the fledgling title, but it’s always nice to see other options enter a market dominated by a select few. Ghost undoubtedly has some interesting early ideas and it will be exciting to see what further details emerge in the coming months.