Rocksteady co-founders’ new studio reportedly developing single-player action-adventure for Microsoft

Xbox Game Studios has reportedly signed a deal to publish the first project from Hundred Star Games, the new studio established by Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker.

Hill and Walker announced their departure from Batman Arkham studio Rocksteady in October 2022, and Hundred Star Games was founded the following April. However, the pair’s connection to the studio wasn’t spotted until early this year, alongside the discovery a “handful of lead developers and director-level ex-Rocksteady employees” was already working there.

While little official is known about Hundred Star Games’ activities to date – aside from its stated aim of employing a “small team of only 100 industry veterans and emerging talents” – reliable leaker eXtas1s now reports Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios has signed on the dotted line to publish and finance the developer’s first title.

Details on the project remain extremely limited, but eXtas1s (writing for Exputer) claims it’ll be an AAA-caliber single-player action-adventure build in Unreal Engine 5. This is “likely” to be a platform exclusive title, according to eXtas1s – but that might ultimately depend on how Microsoft’s recent multiplatform strategy evolves.

Hill and Walker were previously involved with Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, but departed the studio long before the much-delayed game finally released earlier this year. Kill the Justice League drew praise for its presentational panache but few had anything especially positive to say about its live-service core. Word that Hill and Walker are returning to single-player action-adventure territory after their successes with Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games is certainly intriguing if today’s report proves to be true.