As the Lead Designer on World of Warcraft, Rob Pardo was part of the team that profoundly changed the video game industry as we know it. Now, he’s struck out on his own and formed Bonfire Studios, a new game development house located in Irvine, California.
Writing on the company’s blog, Pardo said Bonfire hasn’t started work on their first project yet (or even decided on a platform), but his desire is to to let his team stay small while still being able to create blockbuster games:
Game developers live the dream scenario where passion meets work. We don’t view our week as something to get through so we can really live on the weekend. But often, developers must compromise and decide — do I work on a blockbuster game where I have less personal impact or the gutsy indie studio that struggles to get noticed? Our vision is to create a studio that doesn’t require them to choose.
Bonfire also has close ties with Riot Games, the development team behind League of Legends. “Riot’s aspiration to be the most player-focused game company in the world, aligns very nicely with our vision to build friendships through our online games,” said Pardo. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Bonfire’s first project turns out to be an online-focused multiplayer game.
