Many have been wondering what happened to CD Projekt RED veteran Jason Slama after he was first appointed as the game director of the next Witcher project. It turns out that he is now working on a new NFT title at Pixelcraft Studios.
Jason Slama (left), Gotchi Guardians (right)
What happened?
- Pixelcraft Studios made the announcement on March 29, saying that Jason Slama has joined the team as the new game director.
- He will oversee the development of Gotchi Guardians, a game made on Pixelcraft’s NFT protocol Aavegotchi, and also make sure that the project “leverages advantages of blockchain gaming while breaking traditional accessibility barriers and pushing the quality boundaries of Web3 games.”
- As is often the case with blockchain-based projects, such a vague description doesn’t say much about Slama’s role or the game itself. However, the developer promised to share “more concrete details” soon.
- “I am excited to join Pixelcraft Studios at this important time in the company’s history,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to building on Aavegotchi’s success by leading the creation of new and innovative games that players will love.”
- According to Slama’s updated LinkedIn profile, he left CD Projekt RED in September 2022 and joined Pixelcraft Studios in March.
What is Aavegotchi and Gotchi Guardians?
- Pixelcraft Studios is a Web3 company, which recently raised $30 million in a token sale. Its main product is Aavegotchi, an open-source NFT gaming protocol that should be a foundation for different blockchain titles.
- Aavegotchi is also a collection of playable NFT pets that users can mint, trade with each other, and use in the game. According to CoinMarketCap, its live price is $1.07 with a total market value of supply of $48.2 million.
- Right now, Pixelcraft is developing its play-to-earn RPG Gotchiverse governed by the special GHST token. The game’s descriptions are all rather vague, so it is hard to say what makes if different from other Web3 titles.
- Gotchi Guardians is the next NFT title from Pixelcraft, built on the Aavegotchi protocol. According to a press release, it is a “mobile survival game” made with Unity. With its official Twitter saying it will also have tower defense elements and some sources identifying its genre as RPG, it is unclear what the game is exactly about.
- Jason Slama will serve as the game director for Gotchi Guardians, with the title expected to come out later this year.
Who is Jason Slama?
- Slama started his game development career in 2008 when he joined Ubisoft as a general programmer. He worked on console versions of Assassin’s Creed III, as well as mobile titles like Might & Magic: Duel of Champions.
- In 2014, Slama joined CD Projekt RED where he originally worked as a senior UI programmer on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. He then became one of the core members of the GWENT team, leading the development of the game’s architecture and technology.
- Between 2018 and 2021, Slama served as GWENT game director. As he mentioned on LinkedIn, he “successfully reshaped the team to tackle the difficult challenge of releasing on mobile, regaining the community’s trust, and significantly increasing project financial performance.”
- Last March, it was revealed that Slama had become the game director for the next AAA Witcher project built with Unreal Engine 5. However, he hasn’t shared any updates about his work or current status ever since.
- In November, Cyberpunk 2077 animation lead Sebastian Kalemba announced that he will be the director of the entire new Witcher saga. We assumed that Jason Slama might continue working on the next game codenamed Polaris, but as it turned out, he had already left CD Projekt RED by that time.
