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Mark of the Ninja, Walking Dead Devs Team With Olly Moss

New superteam of developers setting off on their own.

The idea of Mark of the Ninja’s lead designer, the two leads on The Walking Dead, and profoundly talented artist Olly Moss working together on a video game sounds pretty cool. Thankfully, it’s actually happening, and their brand-new studio is called Campo Santo.

No Caption Provided

More specifically, that means we’re talking about Nels Anderson, Sean Vanaman, and Jake Rodkin working with Moss.

“Deciding to found and then actually CREATE a video game studio has felt like a mix of buying a winning lottery ticket and taking a brash detour that results in a near miss with a pedestrian” said Vanaman on the company’s blog. “Impulse followed by action followed by sitting in your car hyperventilating. The outcome is thrilling at best and disastrous at worst.”

Campo Santo is not looking for you to chip in, its first game will not be built on crowdfunding. Instead, famed software developer Panic has invested in the potential of Campo Santo. The game is not only backed by Panic but will be made in collaboration with the developer, as well.

“It’s an unlikely partnership that means we get to conceive of, make, and distribute a video game the way we want to and the way we know how, with no per-prescribed set of rules or formula for how it’s done,” said Vanaman.

There is no game to talk about yet, no concept art to ignite the imagination, but the sheer talent behind Campo Santo is exciting enough for now.

Chances are Vanaman and Rodkin will be spilling their guts about building a company and making a game on their own through the Idle Thumbs podcast, which comes highly recommended.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

80 Comments

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amardilo

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Edited By amardilo

Sounds really interesting.

Can't wait to see what they do but I am a little worried for the future of The Walking Dead (video game) series and any possible sequel to Mark of the Ninja.

Also Olly Moss does some amazing artwork/prints, I'm really looking forward to seeing how his art makes it into a game.

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Corvak

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Kinda tired of hearing corporate news...I dont really care about layoffs and that. I will wait for an actual announcement to get excited.

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Humanity

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@bisonhero: There is always potential for greatness. I don't really know any of the others guys - I only listened to the Idle Thumbs podcast and it wasn't my sort of thing. Even with Ryan guest starring on it I just don't really jive well with the two main hosts.

But that aside, as I said, hey it might be great. Hopefully it will be, I certainly wouldn't mind playing another great game.

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BisonHero

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Edited By BisonHero

@riboflavin said:

@aceofspudz said:

Hopefully they listen to the MOTN guy, because he has actually made a game.

sean and jake have also made multiple games though

Anyway this is pretty cool. I never even played the walked dead, but I love the idle thumbs guys. Met them and Nels in a bar once too. And mark of the ninja was great.

Also I'm pretty glad there is no kickstarter

e: also, though I never played any of it as stated, they have said that they weren't the leads on the walking dead DLC, 100 days or whatever it was, and I heard that was good. Telltale has plenty of talent.

I'm pretty sure aceofspudz was going for the SICK BURN of calling The Walking Dead "not actually a game", since it barely has puzzles and progress is basically guaranteed. I disagree with that opinion, but whatever. Also, as you point out, Sean and Jake have worked on other Telltale games that are more traditional point-and-click adventure games.

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BisonHero

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@humanity said:

I mean Olly Moss getting involved in game design is about as exciting as Todd McFarlane getting involved in game design.

I agree that there's little reason to think his skillset magically transfers to game design and will result in a good game. He's probably the least exciting part of this announcement.

But assuming that Anderson, Rodkin, and Vanaman handle design, Vanaman handles writing, and Moss (and I guess maybe Rodkin?) handle art, it seems like they have a chance at making a good game.

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Humanity

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I mean Olly Moss getting involved in game design is about as exciting as Todd McFarlane getting involved in game design.

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mbr2

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Unbiazed jurnalism.

Generic indie game! Go!

Because copy and pasting a press release of the latest 3rd person shooter from Sweat Shop Games is what the cool kids do.

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MacEG

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I feel like this reads like an Onion article.

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KittyVonDoom

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Unbiazed jurnalism.

Generic indie game! Go!

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Brendan

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Woah, crack team.

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retrovirus

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So exciting! Can't wait to see who else they bring in, since they're going to need programmers. Obviously there's a ton of design and art talent here. Plus, Camposanto means "graveyard" in Latin, so ghost game confirmed. You play as a wizard that backs up into Samuel L. Jackson's ghost arm.

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groverat

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Audioslave - bad
Them Crooked Vultures - fucking awesome.

This game studio? We'll find out in a few years. I'm hopeful. :)

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ProfessorK

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Edited By ProfessorK

@sanj said:

IDEA: The game is an ultra-realistic crime thriller, BUT the main character is depicted solely as a 2D minimalist silhouette who interacts with the "real" people. It'll be the Who Framed Roger Rabbit of video games.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Moss' work and I look forward to seeing what these guys cook up!

I think I know what you're getting at but all I can think of is the actual Who Framed Roger Rabbit video game. And it's TERRIBLE!

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moonwalksa

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@snail: assuming you're talking about supergroups in general and not just videogames, Them Crooked Vultures was an excellent band.

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Humanity

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@fram said:

The Audioslave of indie game devs has arrived!

So they'll make tamer, more radio friendly games while under utilizing the talent involved?

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avantegardener

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For someone who is fundamentally a print designer, should be really interesting to see how this translates into a 'video game'.

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FlipperDesert

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Dude.

I guess that's why they were all on the last Idle Thumbs together then, awesome. Does this mean they've left Telltale, though? :(

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devilzrule27

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So the game is going to be very orange and black.

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Capsicum_Homie

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That shit is cool! Mark of the Ninja is a boss ass game and one of my favorites of the past few years.

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coaxmetal

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Edited By coaxmetal

@aceofspudz said:

Hopefully they listen to the MOTN guy, because he has actually made a game.

sean and jake have also made multiple games though

Anyway this is pretty cool. I never even played the walked dead, but I love the idle thumbs guys. Met them and Nels in a bar once too. And mark of the ninja was great.

Also I'm pretty glad there is no kickstarter

e: also, though I never played any of it as stated, they have said that they weren't the leads on the walking dead DLC, 100 days or whatever it was, and I heard that was good. Telltale has plenty of talent.

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Nekroskop

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Edited By Nekroskop

Oh boy. Gone Home 2: Nothing Happens

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Foil1212

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Edited By Foil1212

Video Games and Famous! YEAH!

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TheGorilla

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So excited! Idle Thumbs is the best. Anything those guys do I'm interested in.

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Giant_Bomb

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Edited By Giant_Bomb

Well my interest in The Walking Dead is about zero now :s

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fram

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The Audioslave of indie game devs has arrived!

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PXAbstraction

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It's not called Phaedrus Games? Missed opportunity!

I very much look forward to seeing what they make but I do hope it is more game and less Dear Esther/Gone Home-style interactive story.

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kraznor

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Edited By kraznor

Odds on Breckon and Remo joining them?

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Nonentity

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Super, super excited about this. Videogames and Famous back in the saddle!

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Pie

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Yeah super interesting stuff

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BisonHero

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When did those 2 leave TellTale?

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Matoyak

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@mtfikhan said:

If the first game is not called WHIZARD, i will be bummed. But this is interesting

It's a game named WHIZARD in which you play through Far Cry 2 in the style of the Walking Dead only as a wizard.

Joking aside, this is some pretty crazy stuff. Could be really awesome.

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mostman

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@kidavenger: you should do a bit more research. Panic is one of the premiere Mac developers in the business. They set the tone and the trend for many of the modern design you see around today. Probably one of the highest regarded developers in the business. But hey - your 2 seconds of looking entitles you to your opinion.

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Kidavenger

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"The game is not only backed by Panic but will be made in collaboration with the developer, as well."

This is really off putting, Panic appears to be an iOS/mac crapware developer; a Kickstarter would have been better.

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beepmachine

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This has some exciting potential. With design and writing talent like that we could end up with something really special. The idea of Olly Moss's art style in game form makes me giddy. That's assuming he'll be handling that. He might be more interested in the conceptual design, but no reason not to assume he would oversee the look of the game as well.

Google tells me that Campo Santo means "Cemetery." I wonder why they went with that for a name.

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klinkcow

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What happens when my favorite designers get together? Well see!

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l3illyl3ob

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@hyuzen said:

@berniesbc said:

Pretty exciting, but I wonder what this means for Walking Dead Season 2.

All I can think of now is that this will greatly impact how good Season 2 can be

Same. I really hope the guys at Telltale can pull of a good Season 2 of TWD. But I have a feeling that without Jake and Sean, it won't be nearly as compelling.

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Snail

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Hmm... I couldn't help but think how supergroups are rarely ever good.

I wonder if that translates to video-games.

Or maybe the rule applies, but they'll be the ELP of video-games? What other good supergroups are there?

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AllanIceman

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Edited By AllanIceman

This is Rad!

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Olivaw

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First game is gonna be an I Spy typ eof game where you have to find objects hidden in pictures that olly moss draws

GOTY 2014

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megalowho

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Edited By megalowho

Looking forward to Phaedrus: Origins

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mtfikhan

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If the first game is not called WHIZARD, i will be bummed. But this is interesting

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Fleck0

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Edited By Fleck0

Even if Chris doesn't immediately join the company I'll bet his music will show up on their first project anyway.

Now they can make a spiritual successor to Gone Home with ghosts like we all wanted.

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deactivated-629eab11cc270

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So the next Walking Dead game won't be as good as the first? Got it.