Instinction acquires additional funding and is expanding team with more world class talent
Many of our supporters may remember that we showcased our trailer for Instinction in October of 2021 – providing a glimpse at a vast and vibrant landscape filled with exotic locations, deadly prehistoric creatures, and an expansive world for players to explore.
Two brand new dinosaur reveals are about to be released.
Since the debut of this trailer towards the end of last year, we have been busy behind the scenes – working on the next phase of development for the upcoming title and we have been growing our team. This resulted in New Zealand-based investment firm Hillfarrance investing an additional $2 million into the game – providing the funds to take production to the next level.
Hillfarrance’s Managing Partner & Founder, Rob Vickery, said the following about his partnership with Hashbane Interactive:
“With over 50 years of combined gaming experience at Hillfarrance, when we meet a team building a game that we cannot wait to play they certainly get our attention. This happened when Jade and Courtney presented what they had already accomplished with Hashbane’s first title, Instinction.
Aside from crafting a story and gameplay demo that kept us wanting more, they had captured the imagination of millions of gamers worldwide via their launch trailer. Equally as impressive was their ability to build partnerships with some of the titans of the gaming industry – such as Epic and Intel.”
The game promises to take advantage of its roots in Unreal Engine 5 – producing a truly immersive experience which the team hope will give Dinosaur Fans the videogame of their dreams. Although news on the production is still heavily under wraps currently, Rob was also keen to share how he hopes Instinction will shape the New Zealand Game Industry:
“We are delighted to increase our investment into Hashbane to $2m and help fund the expansion of our team to complete the next phase of game development. In what we believe is the largest ever video game studio investment from an NZ-based venture fund, we are helping lay the foundations for a new, Triple-A game development studio with a wildly audacious vision.
This vision is attracting some of the most exciting talent in the industry to our shores, whilst also bringing the world’s eyeballs to our burgeoning game economy. Perhaps more importantly to our purpose-driven fund, Hashbane will also hopefully encourage our youth to seek out careers in game development and the creative economy.”
We already have an incredible team and the investment has allowed us to bring on more world-class talent to the project.
Cameron Suey has recently joined as part of the game’s narrative team – with previous working titles including Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel’s Avengers. Prehistoric Planet’s Lead Creature Model & Sculpt Artist, Sanjay Singh, has also joined the Instinction team. Soon to be joining our team are multiple AAA developers, artists and animators, these aren't just individuals with great talent, but great attitudes too!
We've begun to look for more suitable office space to facilitate the growing local team.
When asked about the newest additions to the studio, founders Courtney O’Neill and Jade Saunders said:
“We are incredibly excited for Cameron and Sanjay to join our team. Cameron’s in-depth understanding of narrative design will help to enrich Instinction’s story, and Sanjay’s prior experience delivering some of the best dinosaurs for television will help to immerse our players in the encounters they have with these animals.
As a studio, we are so thankful for the support Hillfarrance have given us. We hope that Instinction will be a catalyst for kickstarting the Games Industry here in New Zealand – showing that with the right projects, we can put our country on the map and create an industry which can be world-leading in its own right.”
Instinction can be wishlisted on Steam - Steam Wishlist
In our next blog(next 2 weeks), we'll dive into a bit more detail about the team and share some unseen footage and artwork. Future blogs will include insights about the updated dinosaur list, more about the characters in the game and the processes we employ in every aspect of game development.
Instinction is slated for release on PC, last-generation and current-generation consoles at some point in 2025. Dinosaur fans can expect action, exploration, adventure and discovery as they get to immerse themselves in a gorgeously crafted world which takes full advantage of Unreal Engine 5.
And there's a little something we're working on for our community, any guess what it might be?
