So you know how we reported last week that Jade Raymond, who has previously worked with Ubisoft and EA, had joined Google, and speculated that this might be for their gaming initiative? We were all right. Today during their GDC keynote, where Google unveiled the Stadia streaming platform, Google also announced Stadia Games and Entertainment, a brand new first party games studio by Google, which is being headed by Jade Raymond.

Bemusingly enough, the games studio was announced without any games. None were teased either, and it seems like Google plans to keep it that way until this Summer. That said, I would hope that Google would want to debut a killer-app for their new platform to help catch the attention of even those who would otherwise be disinterested in it—if that is the long-term plan, then Google is not showing its hand on that front just yet.

For now, all we can do is speculate on what kinds of games Raymond and her team will build for Stadia with Google.

Jade Raymond used to work at Ubisoft as the producer of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. She then moved on to EA to work on new single player adventure games, but we all know how things go with EA and single player games, so she ended up leaving. Since then, we haven’t been sure what she’s doing, or where she’s working.

Now we do—today on Twitter, Jade Raymond announced that she is now—stay with me here—VP at Google. This is a big deal, because it indicates how serious Google, who are about to announce their official entry into the gaming market, has really become. Assuming Google is on the verge of announcing a console, then having someone like Raymond, who has her finger on the pulse of delivering mass market hits, is exactly someone whom they need to steward their gaming efforts.

Of course, it remains to be seen exactly what her position will entail—or what Google’s gaming efforts will amount to, for that matter.

I’m excited to finally be able to share that I have joined Google as VP!

— Jade Raymond (@ibjade) March 12, 2019

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen teased even more information about Star Wars Battlefront 2 at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference and noted how it would be “dramatically larger” than its predecessor with “a lot of new characters” from the newer films.

Jorgensen simply said that, “The Star Wars universe is just unbelievable to build games in because it’s so vast.”

He also had time to tease Bioware’s new IP which is apparently “more sci-fi-related.” The action franchise is still a ways off from being properly revealed though.

Jorgensen offered a few other teases like how elements from FIFA 17 would be in Madden NFL 18, possibly referencing the successful single-player mode The Journey.

Engagement levels for Battlefield 1 are currently “fantastic” and as for Jade Raymond’s next action game, it’s “very early days” yet. That being said, the Assassin’s Creed producer’s next game is meant to become a new franchise.

What are your thoughts on all of this? Let us know in the comments below.

EA have some pretty exciting new projects in the pipeline- especially due to their double punch combo of Jade Raymond and Amy Hennig, exceptional designers known for working on blockbuster IPs like Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted in the past, who both joined EA some time ago.

Speaking about the kinds of games they are working on during the UBS Global Technology Conference (via DualShockers), EA Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen noted that EA has traditionally not done well in the open world acton game genre, which is today’s biggest gaming genre by far. He pointed out, however, that the company can do well in the future, which is why they brought Raymond on board, and established a new studio for her in Montreal. Raymond’s next game, he said, should be out in the next three years, and is hopefully the start of a new franchise.

As for Hennig, she is currently working on a Star Wars action game, which he thinks will be a ‘huge opportunity for growth.’

It will be extremely interesting to see what these two games are, and how they end up doing- EA haven’t put out a truly bad game in a very long time now (only highly disappointing ones, like Dragon Age Inquisition, Battlefield Hardline, Need for Speed, and Star Wars Battlefront)- and hopefully these new studios maintain that record.

Last year, EA opened up a new studio, EA Motive, under Jade Raymond, who had formerly worked with Ubisoft and had most notably launched the Assassin’s Creed franchise so successfully. Today, Raymond shared an update on the state of her studio, noting that it had grown to employ 65 people, and confirming that it was currently working on a new Star Wars game, and that it was also exploring some ideas for a new, original, IP.

Raymond also confirmed that EA Visceral under Amy Hennig was currently working on a new story oriented Star Wars game as well. This, of course, lines up with EA’s announced strategy of having a new Star Wars game out every year starting next year.

Finally, she also confirmed that EA Motive and Visceral are both now actively hiring- so if you’re interested in working on Star Wars, or working with EA, I guess give them a ring.

EA gained some major talent when Any Hennig from Naughty Dog, who had headed games in the blockbuster Uncharted franchise, and Jade Raymond from Ubisoft, who was responsible for the massive launches of Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs, joined them. The two are currently heading Visceral Creative and EA Motive, and working on some new project together.

It’s a project that has been shrouded in mystery, and one that fans are very eager to know about. And yet, it seems as though they will have to wait- if for no other reason than because the game, whatever it is, is still in very early stages of development.

“It’s still early days, but I think it’s more about us as leaders making sure that’s the ethic we’re pushing, that we are one team. It’s more about a cultural identity and the tone of the leadership than it is about distance,” Hennig told GamesIndustry.biz.

This, she says, is the result of game development having grown as complex as it has in the last few years. “It’s one of those reactions to these games are getting bigger and bigger, requiring larger teams, and we have to be more creative about finding the people to build them who are best equipped, regardless of where they are on the planet. The days of doing something of this scale entirely in one building are past,” Hennig said.

Whatever it is, I hope we see something of it soon- maybe at EA’s E3 presser next year?

When Jade Raymond left Ubisoft, it didn’t come as a big surprise to many- a lot of developers are leaving their jobs at big publishing houses to pursue independent game development these days. However, what did come as a shock was Raymond’s decision to pursue game development with EA- she had effectively jumped the brigade from one big publisher to another. What was the point? Why would she do that?

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Raymond states that she chose to work at a bigger publisher, rather than opting to pursue independent game development, because of her fond memories working on Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed- two brands she helped cultivate during her time at Ubisoft, the latter of which is arguably one of the biggest brands on the market today.

“Thinking about times I was happiest, what I enjoy doing, and what I will ultimately be happy having done five or 10 years from now, what I really love doing is creating these big franchises–getting to work with the team to create Assassin’s Creed and how big that’s gotten, then working with the team at the beginning of Watch Dogs–creating those new franchises that then become culturally impactful.

“People know about them all over the place, and having that opportunity to do it again and think about how we make sure we’re honoring that opportunity to impact people’s lives in a positive way, making something that’s moving the medium forward and enriching things. All those objectives are what’s most important to me, and they line up well with EA’s objectives,” Raymond said.

That’s certainly as good a reason as any- and it is also encouraging to see someone choosing to stick with AAA game development, as opposed to leaving to pursue smaller scale development. With the AAA scene facing a contraction as massively as it is, it needs all the familiar hands on board that it can get.

For all of its success in first person shooters, action RPGs, online titles and much more, Electronic Arts has never really had it’s own Assassin’s Creed style video game series. That’s set to change in the coming years though – CFO Blake Jorgensen recently spoke about as much at the UBS Global Technology Conference.

“We’ve never really operated in the largest genre of gaming, and that’s the action genre. That’s the Assassin’s Creed-style games; more open-world, more single-play versus multiplayer. It’s not been an area that we’ve operated in. We recently hired Jade Raymond, who was behind the Assassin’s Creed franchise for Ubisoft and she will be building an action genre for us through a studio we’re building out in Montreal right now. So a lot of excitement around the action genre.”

Jade Raymond is currently in charge of her own studio Motive and will be working with Visceral Games and former Uncharted writer Amy Hennig on an unannounced Star Wars title. How will it turn out? Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

Jade Raymond, formerly of Ubisoft has just announced that she has joined the team at Electronic Arts. Raymond will be heading a brand new studio, called Motive and will be based out of Canada. The video game veteran has been a bit adrift since she left Ubisoft last year. She had been the long time producer of that company’s Assassin’s Creed games right up until her departure.

Raymond announced the move in a quick blog post and said that she had joined to company in order to work on something “entirely new.” She added that her new Motive team is going to be working in “close quarters” with the Bioware team that is currently working feverishly to finish up Mass Effect: Andromeda. While the obvious leap in logic would make us guess that she will be in on the second in this rebooted series, that “entirely new” comment seems to hint otherwise.

The first major IP that Raymond and Motive have confirmed will be a second Star Wars game, which is being helmed by Amy Hennig. The game is already in development by Visceral and Raymond will now be overseeing that development company through her role at Motive.  “I’m thrilled that the first big project that we will work on in Montreal will have Amy as Creative Director. An opportunity to work with her and the Visceral team, and to play in the Star Wars universe, is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.”

When Jade Raymond left Ubisoft, she said it was to pursue new opportunities and it appears her new role at Electronic Arts fits that bill.

Though Ubisoft Toronto managing director Jade Raymond isn’t currently working on any projects using VR, she has expressed interest in the technology. Speaking to Gamereactor, Raymond feels that VR will transform how one interacts with games.

“We’re on the verge, I think of big breakthroughs in tech that are going to transform games. The fourth dimension is referenced to virtual reality; not only the display technology but all of the new input technology that’s going with it. That’s going to transform how we interact with those types of games.

“In terms of VR, I would love to have a zero-G kind of parkour game where you’re actually in a space suit navigating around and having the experience just like Chris Hatfield gets to have, or only a select few astronauts. Looking down at the Earth from above and trying to do something in space with the pressure of zero-G and managing your oxygen, and things like that.”

Currently, there are two main players in commercial VR technology – Sony with Project Morpheus and Oculus with Oculus Rift. Which one will ultimately pan out? We’ll find out in the coming months.