I’m sure that there’s a few Sonic the Hedgehog fans that frequent here, of which have heard of Christian “Taxman” Whitehead. An amazing game programmer who has worked on a number of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog ports, and most being involved with Sonic Mania. He’s also working on the follow-up to Freedom Planet, Freedom Planet 2. So what’s he been up to lately?
How about starting up his own studio?
Yep, in a recent tweet, he’s announced that he’s started up his own company, called Evening Star. He’s not alone either, as he’s being joined with Tom Fry (Pagodawestgames), Brad Flick, Hunter Bridges, and Dave Padilla. Many of which worked on Sonic Mania with Christian. Also, I like the reference to Knuckle Chaotic’s Evening Star theme.
Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce you to Evening Star, a new game studio I have founded alongside:@TheRealDPad@TomFryPWG@bradflick55
and@HunterBridgesFollow us: @EveningStarStdo
Read more: https://t.co/FaaYYeya78(P.S. We're hiring!)
— Christian Whitehead (@CFWhitehead) February 12, 2019
According to the website, Evening Star games is being called a boutique game studio. I’m not completely sure as to what this means, however, the mission statement reads as follows;
Evening Star is a boutique game studio founded in late 2018. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with operations in Melbourne and London, Evening Star’s mission is designing fresh, fun games which will stand the test of time.
For Evening Star, being a “boutique” game studio has a specific meaning. Every member pursues a goal to make their own great games. By encouraging strong technical foundations in every discipline, members are given a voice and latitude to impact games in unique ways. By reinvigorating gaming history’s more cunning techniques, the team boldly explores directions long since left behind. With that driving approach, and a proprietary engine and tool set, Evening Star has developed an innovative workflow which minimizes the barriers between ideas and execution.
Creating games that shine bright… Evening Star casts a light into the future.
Christian has also announced that they’re looking to hire more people. Currently, Evening Star is looking for an Environment Artist and Level Designer. For more information on this, head on over to the Evening Star career page.
That said, I’ve been a fan of Taxman’s work for quite some time and I wish him and his team nothing but success. Though, I do wonder what this means in regards to any future collaborations with Sega. I’d love to see a Sonic Mania 2 or another project with him attached to it.
Though, that logo looks a little too similar to Bandai Namco’s Jump Force logo.
