[UPDATE] Concept artist and Darth Maul designer Iain McCaig clarifies Develop 2011 comments, says time frame was a guess.
Illustrator and concept artist Iain McCaig, whose past projects include Terminator 2, Secret of Monkey Island, and Star Wars: Episode I, is designing characters for Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Speaking at UK-based games industry conference Develop, McCaig said he is “having the most fun working with Respawn Entertainment right now, but I can’t show you, and I won’t be able to show you, until 2015.”
McCaig, who designed Darth Maul for The Phantom Menace, said he had been invited by a friend and former student to work on character designs for the Respawn project, about which little is known so far. The studio has multiple ties to the movie concept artist community; Respawn art director Matt Codd similarly draws experience from the art departments of Hollywood blockbusters.
On the topic of games and movies, McCaig said, “The whole entertainment industry is blending into one,” though he admits to not really playing video games, saying: “Somehow computer games just don’t involve me yet. I think as AI improves I’ll get [more involved].” The Respawn project is far from McCaig’s first exposure to video games, though. He has produced art for several games; notably, he worked on lauded 1990 graphic adventure Secret of Monkey Island, drawing 256-colour character portraits with a mouse while waiting to work on Terminator 2.
Besides a staff list that includes Iain McCaig and Matt Codd, there is little known about Respawn’s first project. Respawn.com launched in late June with a blurry piece of art from the game by way of a teaser.
[UPDATE]: McCaig responded to GameSpot’s request for clarification on the 2015 time frame with the following statement: “2015 was just my wildest guess as to when I would be able to show my artwork, which is usually 12 months or more after release. I have no real information on the release date of the game.”
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