While it's still merely a rumor that start-up Chicago game studio Robomodo is working on a "Tony Hawk" game, two images taken of the team's view (including the one above) indicate that the studio may be gaming's highest.
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What's the highest game development studio in the business? That's a straight line and not a pun.
It's also not something game developers usually boast about.
But during a telephone interview with the co-founders of Chicago start-up Robomodo, I stumbled over the fact that the Robomodo team works out of the 33rd floor of a Chicago high-rise.
I wracked my brain to think of a higher development studio. I've been to the ground floor offices of Retro Studios and Toys For Bob. I've visited EA offices, which have people working on second, third and fourth floors. I've been a couple floors up, at most, in SOE Austin and a couple floors higher than that at Rockstar.
But I'd never heard of people making video games 33 stories up.
Maybe some studios in the mile-high city of Denver can boast grander elevation, but how far off the ground are they?
The previous highest I'd heard of was Kojima Productions, which operates 10 stories up in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.
I should note that the interview during which I learned this occurred way back in September. I asked for photos, and a few weeks later, I got them. I've been meaning to post them since. With recent rumors swirling among gaming reporters implying that the "extreme sports title for Activision Blizzard" Robomodo's team claims on its website to be working on is a new "Tony Hawk" game, I felt the gaming world needed to see this team's great view.
Other things I had learned from the interview were that Robomodo, as of the fall, had about 45 people on staff, 27 from the shuttered EA Chicago team that made the boxing game "Fight Night Round 3." I had guessed they could be working on a fighting game. "We love fighting games," creative director David Michicich had told me. "That doesn't mean that's the title we're working on." So we talked about Robomodo's core ethics -- gameplay supporting style -- and we talked about that view.
Looks good to me.
Robomodo's view from 30 stories up
