Ted Price, oprichter van Insomniac Games, verlaat de ontwikkelaar

Insomniac Games werd in 1994 als Xtreme Software opgericht door Ted Price. Onder zijn leiding heeft de ontwikkelaar in de ruim 30 jaar dat ze bestaan verschillende bekende franchises gemaakt, waaronder Spyro the Dragon, Resistance, Marvel’s Spider-Man en nog veel meer.

Ted Price heeft via het PlayStation Blog aangekondigd dat hij de studio gaat verlaten. Zijn plek zal worden ingenomen door drie man: Ryan Schneider, Jen Huang en Chad Dezern. Deze drie werken al jaren nauw met Price samen en vormen daarom de juiste vervanging.

Op het PlayStation Blog staat een uitgebreider artikel, waarin de drie nieuwe studiohoofden worden voorgesteld. Via de SIE-website heeft Ted Price een uitgebreid afscheidsbericht geplaatst, zie hieronder. Hij zal eind maart bij de ontwikkelaar vertrekken.

“Hi everyone,

I’d like to start this blog by acknowledging how difficult things have been for our team members and our players in Los Angeles over the past several weeks. As I write this, news reports are being shared predicting more challenges ahead with the fires due to extreme weather.

Our thoughts are with those who have been affected and we’ll continue to work with our peers at Sony to support our team members and their families as they continue to deal with the tragic situation.

I’m so proud of the numerous Insomniacs who have rallied to help others in LA both inside and outside of Insomniac. Helping those who are less fortunate is part of our mission statement. Insomniacs embrace it daily and it’s one of so many aspects of our culture that I love.

Another aspect of our culture I hold dear is the Insomniacs’ ability to pull together and successfully overcome what often seem like insurmountable obstacles.

Speaking of which, despite a challenging 2024, Insomniacs stayed fully focused on building games for our fans. As a result of the team’s persistence and collaboration, we’re in one of the strongest positions we’ve experienced in years, with each game in development looking beautiful and playing fantastic.

Therefore, last week, I felt comfortable announcing to the Insomniac team that after having been incredibly fortunate to enjoy such a fulfilling career in games, I’ll be retiring from the industry at the end of March. Today, I’m sharing this news more broadly.

I actually made this decision last year. For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team.

During the past year, I had the opportunity to work with the senior leadership team at Insomniac to create a succession plan that I know will provide the continuity, stability and strong leadership necessary to deliver more of what our fans cherish over the next several decades.

So also today, I’m extremely happy to announce that Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider and Jen Huang will become Insomniac Games’ new Co-Studio Heads.

Left to right: Insomniac Games Co-heads, Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider, and Jen Huang

I believe strongly that for us to continue our success, we need leaders at the top who are intimately familiar with how we do things, leaders who have helped build our culture and our processes, and who have earned people’s trust.

For many years, Chad, Jen and Ryan have been instrumental in making Insomniac what we are today. I’ve seen each lead major initiatives here which have positively changed Insomniacs’ lives. Plus, they’ve consistently demonstrated the kind of collaboration and transparency that’s part of our DNA. And just as important, their skillsets are truly complementary.

There is no way that I would ever consider handing the reins to a team I didn’t trust to take care of Insomniacs and lead us to even greater heights. Chad, Jen and Ryan are that team. For those who may not be familiar, please take a moment to get to know them here.

To conclude this blog, Insomniac has been my life, my home away from home, for three decades.

I want to thank every Insomniac for having a positive and lasting impact on my life. Working side by side with Insomniacs for so many years has been a gift that I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.

I also want to thank our fans who, for three decades, have shared their enthusiasm, their encouragement and their support – inspiring us to take every game farther than the last. We do what we do for you. And I can assure you that we won’t be slowing down.

As for me, I’m very excited to officially join the ranks of Insomniac fans. I can’t wait to experience our future games purely as a player. Plus, I can’t remember the last time I played any game and wasn’t unconsciously scanning for bugs. I’m ready to break that habit!

Finally, I’m confident that under the combined leadership of Chad, Jen and Ryan, Insomniac will continue to deliver the industry-defining games that players have come to expect from us…while making a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives for decades to come.

Thank you to Insomniacs, to our players and to videogames for 30 wonderful years.

– Ted”