Days Gone director working on AAA game with NFTs

John Garvin, the creative director of notable first-party games like Days Gone and Syphon Filter, has announced his new project, Ashfall.

Ashfall is a brand new IP from a brand new studio called Liithos, led by Garvin (Vice President) and Michael Mumbauer (CEO). They also worked on a plethora of critically and commercially successful PlayStation franchises like The Last of Us, as well as Uncharted.

This unexpected collaboration between these two PlayStation Veterans was announced earlier today by Hedera, a digital network built on cryptocurrency.

Ashfall offers a "cinematic transmedia world"

Liithos describes Ashfall as a next-gen open-world experience set in a futuristic version of Seattle, Washington that has been affected by global warming, volcanoes, and strange energy fields. It will begin as a single-player narrative experience but will evolve into a multiplayer PvP and PvE "cinematic transmedia world."

At the time of this writing, it's unclear how Ashfall will play out, though we do know that it will implement NFTs for a more engaging and rewarding experience.

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Both Garvin and Mumbauer had a lot to say about Ashfall and the kind of experience it's shaping to be. Garvin, who's also writing a digital comic book for Ashfall, said, "Our goal is to create a truly next-gen, open-world experience that engages with new technologies to allow user-generated content."

Mumbauer, on the other hand, in an interview with VentureBeat, discussed the misunderstandings surrounding NFTs and blockchains, and how these tools would allow Liithus to make Ashfall a rewarding experience for the players. 

"Transmedia and the power of connected worlds has always been something I’ve been extremely passionate about. There is a bit of a misunderstanding in my opinion on what blockchain gaming could mean for gamers. I see the blockchain as a railway and the main station is videogames."

Mumbauer further added, "the other rail stations all lead to the main one, which is games and the trains deliver precious cargo (NFTs) to gamers via the other stations. It’s a way to have deeper and more engaging experiences than we’ve ever seen before. We want to reward gamers for doing stuff they already love doing, and create a path from those areas they love back to the thing they love the most, gaming."

Ashfall is currently in development for PC, consoles, and Web 3.0. No release window nor a trailer was revealed though the press release did contain a few concept arts from the game (posted above).

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Featured image courtesy of Liithos.