New World Interactive

New World Interactive LLC is an American video game developer founded by Andrew Spearin and Jeremy Blum in 2010. The company is primarily known for ''Insurgency'' (2014), '' Day of Infamy'' (2017), and '' Insurgency: Sandstorm'' (2018).

History

In 2002, Andrew Spearin started the development of what would become Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat. It was a total conversion mod for Valve’s Source Engine which depicted a conflict between the United States Marine Corps, and a group of rebel Insurgents, with a focus on realism and authenticity. The project was inspired by Spearin’s experiences in the Canadian army. Three years later, in 2005, Jeremy Blum and other Red Orchestra Mod developers joined Andrew Spearin to work on the Modern Infantry Combat, which ended up releasing in 2007.

In 2010 Andrew Spearin and Jeremy Blum co-founded New World Interactive. Four years later, Insurgency - the standalone sequel to the Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat mod - was released by the company and saw massive success in the video game industry. Selling 400,000 copies in the first 8 months and ending up with approximately 3.76 million copies sold up to July 2017.

After the major success of Insurgency, NWI started development on Day of Infamy, another Hardcore Tactical FPS. Taking the Insurgency skeleton, Day of Infamy was set in the European theatre during WWll, featuring locations such as Sicily, Germany, France, United Kingdom and many more. On top of the already impressive number of maps, weapons and gadgets the game also featured a 'Fire Support' option. This new addition allowed for defensive, offensive and supportive assets to be called in such as: strafing runs, artillery barrages, supply crates and more. Development on Day of Infamy started in 2016, with the game starting as a mod for Insurgency and further developed as a standalone game.

Not too far after the development for Day of Infamy began, NWI took on a new, more ambitious project— to bring the Insurgency experience to a modern engine, Unreal Engine 4. It released after a long delay and various beta stages on December 12, 2018.

In February 2019, New World Interactive announced it would be expanding with a new development studio known as 'New World North' in Calgary, AB. In July 2019, NWI Calgary proudly announced their hiring of Michael Grills (formerly of BioWare; hired into the newly formed position of Art Director) and Derek Czerkaski (hired as the also newly formed position of Head of Production).

In March 2020, it was announced that former company President Keith Warner would take over as CEO with Founder Jeremy Blum acting as Strategic and Creative Advisor.

In August 2020, New World Interactive was acquired by Embracer Group for undisclosed terms and placed as a subsidiary under their Saber Interactive operational division.

Games

Insurgency

Production on the first-person shooter video game ''Insurgency'' began in September, 2011 using the Source engine. A year later, ''Insurgency'' was on display at PAX Prime where hundreds of people got to try the game for the first time. On the 1st of March 2013, the game launched into early access. The game was officially released on Steam on the 22nd of January 2014. Insurgency went on to win second place in both IndieDB's Indie of the Year 2014 Editor's Choice and Indie of the Year 2014 Player's Choice.

Day of Infamy

''Day of Infamy'' is a multiplayer tactical World War II first-person shooter made in the Source engine. It was scheduled for early access release on Steam on the 28th of July, 2016. Closed alpha keys were available for numerous days before hand. Day of Infamy released out of Early Access on the 23rd of March, 2017. Day of Infamy draws a lot of gameplay elements from the studio's previous title (and the mod before it). The game has a minimalist HUD, uses a “free aim” system that doesn’t depend on random bullet spread upon hip firing, and lacks a crosshair when not aiming down a weapon's iron sight or using a supplied scope. The game also carries over the same supply system from Insurgency, used for new weapons, extra ammo or other equipment.

Insurgency: Sandstorm

''Insurgency: Sandstorm'' was officially announced in February 2016 for the PS4, Xbox One, Windows, OS X and Linux, and was released in December 2018. It serves as a sequel to ''Insurgency.'' The game features co-op capability and multiplayer, but will have a dedicated singleplayer campaign. However, New World Interactive announced in January 2018 that focus would be temporarily shifted solely to multiplayer to speed up a polished release. The game entered closed alpha testing in early 2018. On September 11, 2018, NWI announced that it had delayed the release of Insurgency: Sandstorm and that it would subsequently not meet its original September 2018 release date for Windows. The game's new release date was then set for December 12, 2018, while console releases will be delayed until a later date.

(Unannounced IPs)

In July 2019, along with their new hirings, NWI said that the Art Director job position was hired to work on their “as-yet unannounced new IP being developed by New World n Calgary” This was the first public mention of a new title.

Since, then it has been revealed that there are at least 2 unannounced IPs that are being worked on, also through a job listing - "This person will activelt contribute to work on our hit FPS Insurgency: Sandstorm, in addition to a couple unannounced new projects. (Yes, couple.)"

We also know that one of the titles is likely going to be a first-person looter-shooter with an in-game economy - "If you’re interested, you’ll need these skills or experiences: - Experience designing, implementing, and tuning systems/economies - such as progression, AI behaviors, player leveling, rewards, inter-systems dependencies, and so on - Can critically approach, breakdown and explain key variables of game mechanics - Understand the moment-to-moment gameplay loops of first-person and loot shooters and what makes the genre’s fun."

With the other being a cover-based shooter - "We are looking for a Senior Al Programmer to join our expanding team! Are you a fan of FPS, with an emphasis on "inspired by realism" and tactical play vs. arcade control? Do you have a passion for cooperative compound interactions between networks of Al characters?Do cover-based shooters excite you? Do you have an interest in developing Al for a live-service title? Does Unreal Engine excite you? If so, New World Interactive would like to speak with you!"

References

External links

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{{Embracer Group

2010 establishments in Colorado
Companies based in Denver
American companies established in 2010
Video game companies established in 2010
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Saber Interactive
2020 mergers and acquisitions