FoxNext Announce New Game Studio, Fogbank Entertainment

21st Century Fox’s FoxNext Games has announced that it is expanding its video game division with the formation of San Francisco-based studio, Fogbank Entertainment.

The new studio will focus on the creation of narrative games, as FoxNext are keen to develop a top-tier “interactive storytelling platform.” This continues the trend of Fox purchasing video game studios like Aftershock and Iron Studios. FoxNext is already developing video games based on Avatar and Aliens franchises, plus it recently launched a X-Files mobile game and they currently have Marvel’s Strike Force in soft launch.

Former BioWare scribe Daniel Erickson, one of the lead writers behind Star Wars: The Old Republic, has been named studio director and he will joined by executive producer Nathan Germick, who previously served as an executive producer and senior director of project management at Kabam.

“Fogbank is going to help us to develop an interactive storytelling platform that allows us to expand on Fox’s catalog of entertainment while also developing new, unique fiction,” said the company’s president of studios, Aaron Loeb.

“Narrative and story-driven games continue to rank among the top grossing and most downloaded games across industry standards, and we’re assembling a team of people dedicating to furthering the form.”

21st Century Fox have been making lots of purchases within the video game industry and as a gamer, I think it’s just as important as books, comics, shows or movies as a medium for franchises, however should the buyout by Disney go ahead, Disney have a terrible reputation for buying and closing down gaming studios. So it’s going to be interesting to see how FoxNext will operate after the merger.