If you don’t know who Christian Whitehead is, well he’s the one who helped develop Sega’s 2017 hit 2D game Sonic Mania and the 2018 Sonic Mania Encore DLC. As of today, the dev has announced his new studio that goes by the name of Evening Star.
If the name Evening Star has you scratching your head in confusion, the name is a throwback to the 1995 2D 32X platformer — Knuckles Chaotix. The name of the newly announced studio is the same as the “hub world” music titled Evening Star.
The announcement of this new studio was unveiled on February 11th, 2019, over on Whitehead’s Twitter account:
I am serving as Evening Star's Creative Director and Lead Engine Architect. Looking forward to pushing myself even further in this next chapter of my career as a game dev, and creating games that are hopefully even more fun for you!
— Christian Whitehead (@CFWhitehead) February 12, 2019
According to his tweet, the studio aims to create games for you (fans and gamers alike) to not only be entertained but, most importantly, to have “fun.” Additionally, other people will be joining Whitehead such as Dave Padilla, Tom Fry, Brad Flick, and Hunter Bridges.
Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce you to Evening Star, a new game studio I have founded alongside:@TheRealDPad@TomFryPWG@bradflick55
and@HunterBridgesFollow us: @EveningStarStdo
Read more: https://t.co/FaaYYeya78(P.S. We're hiring!)
— Christian Whitehead (@CFWhitehead) February 12, 2019
Furthermore, we learn that Whitehead and crew aim to be a “boutique” team while striving to design “fresh, fun games” that will “stand the test of time,” according to the official website eveningstar.studio:
“Evening Star is a boutique game studio founded in late 2018. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with operations in Melbourne and London, Evening Star’s mission is designing fresh, fun games which will stand the test of time.
For Evening Star, being a “boutique” game studio has a specific meaning. Every member pursues a goal to make their own great games. By encouraging strong technical foundations in every discipline, members are given a voice and latitude to impact games in unique ways. By reinvigorating gaming history’s more cunning techniques, the team boldly explores directions long since left behind. With that driving approach, and a proprietary engine and tool set, Evening Star has developed an innovative workflow which minimizes the barriers between ideas and execution.
Creating games that shine bright… Evening Star casts a light into the future.”
Hopefully, the team does exactly that and creates actual video games that stand the test of time. The official website also relays how the team wants to reinvigorate certain gaming techniques, boldly explore directions long since left behind, and produce a proprietary engine and toolset to create an innovative workflow.
Anyway, if you are a fan of Sonic Mania or the Encore DLC for said game and look forward to what Whitehead and crew have planned for gamers, you can hit up any of the above links to stay up to date on all things Evening Star.
