After Nintendo’s indie games boss, Dan Adelman, left the company last month after nine years, many wondered what he might do next. Now we know. Adelman announced today that he is teaming up with Axiom Verge creator Tom Happ to help with the Metroidvania-style platformer, launching in 2015 exclusively for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Axiom Verge, which was one of the best indie games we played at E3 this year, was designed by Happ alone. He created the game from scratch, with a lot of the work being done during his spare time on nights and weekends, as he only recently started working on the game full-time.
Adelman will assist Happ with business-related considerations for Axiom Verge, including marketing efforts and other key planning decisions.
Addressing his decision to work on a PlayStation-exclusive game after spending so long working only on Nintendo titles, Adelman said in a post on his website that he will “always have a special place” in his heart for Nintendo.
When Adelman announced in August that he was quitting Nintendo–on good terms–he said he hoped to work with various indie studios as their “business guy.” Though Axiom Verge is his first post-Nintendo gig, he teased that he’s keeping busy and might have news to share about other partnerships in the future.
“Aside from the complete lack of any income, these two past months since I left my job have been amazing,” he said. “I’ve had lots of discussions with many developers about all kinds of interesting, quirky, wonderful stuff. These conversations are all in varying stages, and I’m sure I’ll be making some future announcements soon.”
Happ is also looking forward to his partnership with Adelman for Axiom Verge. He writes on his own website that Adelman “is basically synonymous with Nintendo indies; he’s facilitated the launch of hundreds of titles. Business development, marketing, negotiating–all those things that indies themselves tend to be weakest in–are his expertise,” he said. “I’m honored to be the first developer he’s decided to team up with.”
For more on Axiom Verge, be sure to read GameSpot’s previous coverage.
Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
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