Joe Ziegler, game director of "Valorant," leaves Riot for Bungie

General
Joe Ziegler, game director of "Valorant," leaves Riot for Bungie

Joe Ziegler, who spent 12 years at Riot Games, most recently as game director for the hit shooter "Valorant," has a new home at Bungie, the "Destiny 2" studio.

Ziegler announced his departure a few weeks ago, saying that he was leaving "with a great deal of gratitude to Riot Games and everyone with whom I have shared great memories." At the time, however, he did not reveal where he was going, saying only that he would introduce his new location "soon."

Today, he dropped the other shoe and said on Twitter that he is heading to the house Destiny built." Update: I'm happy to announce that my new home is Bungie and I'm working on a new one that I hope one day you will all get to play," Ziegler tweeted." Many <3."

Ziegler did not share any further information about his new job at Bungie, but according to his LinkedIn (opens in new tab) profile, it appears that he has accepted the role of game director. But which game director exactly? He could take on the role for Destiny 2, but I think it's more likely that he will help lead one of the non-Destiny games that Bungie is currently working on.

There are at least a few to choose from; in 2019, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons said the studio wants to release a game other than Destiny by 2025, and by mid-2021, the studio will have an entirely new " multiplayer action shooter" that it has begun recruiting for. There is also something called "Matter," which may or may not be currently in development, and apparently "something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters."

Bungie has historically been a studio that makes one game at a time, and since 2014 that game has been Destiny. But now that Bungie has Sony's backing, it can, at least in theory, devote more resources to the project, both through its own expansion and through support from other Sony studios.

Hopefully, Ziegler will reveal some information about what he is trying to do with Bungie fairly soon.

Categories