Even if you’ve got some early financial backing, decades of industry experience at the top, and some super talented devs creating your new game, there’s no guarantee in the current climate that you’re going to succeed. It’s tough right now. We’ve already seen plenty of studios that were spun up over the last four or five years close their doors or downsize after getting just a single game out the door – some aren’t even able to achieve that before running out of cash. The latest studio to be impacted is Jar of Sparks, the studio formed in 2022 by former Microsoft veteran and Halo Infinite lead designer Jerry Hook, which is now “halting work” on its debut game and letting staff explore other opportunities.
Despite only being around two and a half years old, Jar of Sparks – which was initially partnered and propped up by Chinese juggernaut NetEase – will now be pausing development on its upcoming PC game. It’s spearheaded by Hook, who has a mighty impressive CV. He’s got a wealth of experience from his time at Microsoft where he helped set up the Xbox Live platform and managed several other initiatives before moving on to be an executive producer for the Halo series. He oversaw several Halo titles before shifting over to Bungie to work on Destiny and Destiny 2. Following that stint, he returned to the world of Halo with 343 – his last position before setting up Jar of Sparks was as the head of design for Halo Infinite.
Hook also brought along four highly experienced co-founders with him to help form the studio. Three he scalped from Halo Infinite’s development team – Paul Crocker, Steve Dyck, and Greg Stone – while Kevin Weinberg joined after stints at Rockstar Games and Blizzard.
As you can see, this studio was not short on experience, and it set out with the mission statement of creating “a new generation of narrative-driven action games.”
However, in a post on Jar of Sparks’ LinkedIn page that was first spotted by Game Developer, Hook confirmed that the studio would be “halting work on our current title as we search for a new publishing partner who can help bring our creative vision to life.”
“Throughout this journey, our passionate, driven, and innovative team took bold risks and pushed boundaries, striving to create something truly new and exciting for the industry,” he writes. “We couldn’t be prouder of the groundwork we’ve laid together. As we prepare for this next step, our talented team members will be exploring new opportunities.”
This comes just a few weeks after Human Origin, the studio spun up by former Mass Effect director Casey Hudson, shut its doors before it could even fully reveal its first project. This was due to a “shortfall of funding.”
It’s unclear how many developers’ jobs will be affected by Jar of Sparks’ shut down – whether it be a temporary one while a new publisher is found or, eventually, a permanent one. Including Hook and his co-founders, the company’s website lists 37 employees.