Robert Bowling created quite the buzz last year when he left his extremely comfortable position as Call of Duty community manager for Infinity Ward. After years of criticism, abuse and unwarranted hate (lets be real here, Mr. Bowling was a whipping boy for angry 14 year olds), many questioned the actual reasoning behind his departure.
Shortly after though, he put all debate to rest when he announced the creation of a new studio titled "Robotoki." With a focus on creating fun, original IP's on mobile platforms, it was clear Bowlings heart was simply not in the "Call of Duty" series, anymore. Later, he confirmed this by answering a fan on twitter's question "Why did you leave?" His response was a simple, much respected one; "To much pew-pew, not enough new-new."
Fast forward a year, and we finally get see what Bowling and his crew over at "Robotoki" have been up to with the announcement of their first title: "The Adventures of Dash: A 2D platform and puzzle adventure!" Describing the focus and approach of the game right in the title, it actually took me by surprise once the "dream" sections were shown. The idea of having a separate art style designed per individual artist not only add's variety, but looks stunning in the process. This could potentially feel like multiple games in one, it almost reminds me of "Kid Chameleon" from the Sega Genesis.
The kick starter is asking for $400,000 over the course of the next 30 days, with the funds going toward licensing fees as well as salary for the artists and developers over the next 7 months. You can check out all the information and trailer here. They plan to self-publish digital versions on PC, MAC, LINUX, OUYA, mobile (Android + iOS), and consoles. The PC, MAC, OUYA and LINUX versions will release in November 2013 and then controls adapted for touch screen devices.
Watch the trailer and let me know what you think. I'm actually really interested to see where Bowling takes this, as it's a dramatic departure from what we are used to seeing him do (minus the whole children book thing, but to be fair, no one knew about that until AFTER he left Infinity Ward).
Be sure to subscribe to me here and follow me on twitter @NicholasGigante to let me know what you think!
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