Weeks after Microsoft suddenly closed 4 studios — Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games and Roundhouse Games — Microsoft-owned Activision announced the launch of a new in-house studio called Elsewhere Entertainment.1"We are dedicated to creating AAA franchises that define new story-based genres.

The new studio is based in Warsaw, Poland, and is made up of "storytelling experts" who have previously worked on games such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Destiny, Tom Clancy's The Division and Far Cry. "The new studio has full access to Activision's resources and tools as we continue to increase production and development," said Activision. "Elsewhere, we're opening up the search for best-in-class talent from across the industry and around the world to create cutting-edge next-generation gaming experiences."""

Elsewhere, entertainment is working on something entirely new — it's a good change of pace, not Call of Duty. And as an Activision project, it's unrelated to last week's studio closure. Aside from the fact that Microsoft owns Activision, of course, all you have to imagine is that there are some opinions about what Activision is doing in terms of things like launching a new studio or firing an employee.

Work on the new game has been underway for some time, but this is only the first public mention of the new studio and what it has to cook for. 

If anything, it seems to be primarily a simple matter of cheesy timing, but I think this reflects a rather ugly indifference to the human costs borne by a year and a half of brutal cuts and closures to pursue slightly better earnings. I never care about the optics, but I'm happy to say that, hi, the optics don't.

There's no word on when the debut project elsewhere will be revealed, but the studio is looking to increase employment to get things going in earnest.