A little over two years ago, former Amazon and Fox executive Sharon Tal Yguado announced the creation of his game studio, Astrid Entertainment.
Since then, the developer has been working on a titleless project described as a “living sandy tank” focused on the demography of adolescents.
Yguado tells Gamesindustry.biz May the team have seen an opportunity in a market dominated by violent genres in AAA games and comfortable games in independent space to develop a new experience for adolescents.
“We think it is time for positive but at the same time dynamic, exciting experiences and can offer a rush to adrenaline,” she explains.
“We have made the early decision to take the best elements of the RPG – rich construction and history, exploration and discovery – and superimpose in a sandbox approach, giving players the creative tools to shape the world as theirs.”
Yguado presents the development cycle since the studio foundation in 2022, the first year passed the prototyping and construction of the IP. She explains that the last ten months have involved that the team has implemented proof of concept and demo, which has just been completed.
Astrid is currently undergoing friends and family sessions to test the nature of use by playing multiplayer stories.
“It’s an adventure game, but not a survival game,” said Yguado. “The players will face challenges and obstacles, but it is not a game on death and destruction; It is a game on powers that will allow them to shape the future of their land.
“Players play in worlds they own and can invite family and friends to join. This game is not your typical MMO where you meet foreigners on a server. Interests for worlds and social centers, but They will probably come later. “
Yguado underlines that this project encourages “multiplayer stories” rather than individuals, which in turn “evolve the world in a unique way, making (they) feel personal”.
Having worked at Fox and Amazon for more than a decade, the concept of this interactive experience was the catalyst of Yguado to move from linear entertainment to the game.
“When I heard the field for the first time for this new world and IP, it was clear that it should be an interactive and social experience,” she explains. “The field was for a magical world and open with an incredible turn where people can explore, connect and create together. Developing this IP as a linear experience would have been a missed opportunity.”
The project was also a breath of fresh air compared to the previous “cynical and very upset” stories with which Yguado was involved, including The Walking Dead, The Boys, Outcast and Invincible.
“You cannot become darker and more nervous than boys,” she notes. “But looking at the world in which we live and the landscape of entertainment, I knew it was time for a correction.”
Yguado also sees the opportunity for this project to meet on the linear entertainment sphere.
“Astrid is not only a game studio but an entertainment group that considers all media and platforms as candidates,” she explains. “We obviously expect people to see a film or a television adaptation on our part, which they will do at some point, but we will first invest in the social.
“Despite all the challenges that industry is faced for the moment, the game is positioned in the most privileged intersection of content, social media and technology.”
The idea of transparent crossing between the two sectors was also an important part of the job process. Yguado focused on avoiding “traditional structures and processes” that felt “dated” during the construction of the Astrid team, which includes a talent balance of the two industries.
“The game is positioned in the most privileged intersection of content, social media and technology”
The industry leaders of Industrial Light & Magic, Disney Imagineering, Epic Games, Rare and PlayStation make up the team, with a talent specializing in environmental narration and the design of the system.
Astrid is based in Los Angeles but works like a remote studio, with a large part of the staff operating from the United Kingdom. This includes the director of design Harry Robinson (rare, playtonic), the chief of production and operations Stuart Whyte (PlayStation London Studio) and the technological director Sergio Delgado Díez (Hangar 13, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts).
The team is currently made up of 15 people, a number that the studio wants to keep relatively small as long as possible so that they can continue to work in close collaboration during development.
“We all work so well together, share similar passions and laugh a lot,” explains Ygaudo. “I think that part of our strong connection comes from the project we are developing.”
Yguado is proud of the extent to which the “small but powerful” team has arrived in the last three years, and says that 2025 seems to be a promising period of growth for the studio.
“We are currently hiring new positions and start pre-production,” she explains. “It is an exciting period to take everything we have learned and build it. We hope to develop the team and the process while keeping magic, and to launch production later this year.”
Apart from the introduction of Astrid and its IP in the landscape of the game, YGUDAO hopes to see more independent developers unlock noise.
“Players want new original experiences, and even if the game market seems saturated, there is always a potential for risk takers ready to abandon the old play book,” she said.
“Yes, caution is a typical response to economic uncertainty, but we all know that it is not the recipe for long -term success. I’m really looking forward to seeing more daring movements in 2025.”
This article was modified to clarify Astrid Entertainment was founded just over two years ago rather than three.