Developers Bryna Dabby Smith, Rashad Redic, and Manveer Heir revealed the details of their new studio, Brass Lion Entertainment, today. This new team wants to create products about diverse characters. And it believes that process should start with a diverse creative team.
Brass Lion began work in 2017, and it wants to build far-reaching multimedia properties. That is going to star with Corner Wolves, which it is calling its “first universe.”
“Brass Lion is focused on creating original fictional universes that center on black and brown characters, cultures, and stories, which is something we feel is sorely lacking right now,” Heir writes in a blog post. “Our goal at Brass Lion Entertainment is to diversify the video game industry, one fictional universe at a time, and expand them into other forms of entertainment, such as film, TV, comics, and podcasts. We want to let all players be delighted by our franchises, no matter what their background and preferred medium is.”
Between Smith, Redic, and Heir, Brass Lion’s executive team worked on Fallout 3, Mass Effect 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Sleeping Dogs. It wants to take that experience and use it to develop entertainment about people of color.
“We look forward to bringing this expertise towards building our own franchises that can take form in video games, film, TV, comics, novels, podcasts, and other forms of media,” writes Heir. “Properties like Black Panther show that you can authentically center black and brown characters and creatives and still reach a global audience. We hope to use that as a model of how to build up our own original universes.”
Brass Lion announces Corner Wolves
As part of the reveal of the studio, Brass Lion revealed Corner Wolves. Here’s how Heir describes the game:
“Corner Wolves is a fictional universe set in Harlem in the mid-’90s, where Jacinte, a young Afro-Latina, embarks on a mission to find her father’s killer. Corner Wolves tells the stories of young people growing up in the hood, and how their lives are shaped and defined by the war on drugs, as they are caught between dope dealers, hustlers, and overzealous police.”
The studio started Corner Wolves as a game, but it is already planning to expand into other mediums as well. Rise of the Black Panther author Evan Narcisse is writing Corner Wolves. And Brass Lion is working with music producer Just Blaze on the soundtrack.
“Both of these men grew up in the New York area, have a relationship with Harlem, and are some of the best in the business,” writes Heir. “We are enormously excited to be working with them on the Corner Wolves universe as we bring it life in various forms.”
Brass Lion is also looking to make many more projects beyond Corner Wolves. This is only the beginning, according to Heir.
“We hope to be a force of positive change that will let people have more diverse options to pick from when it comes to great sources of entertainment,” said Heir. “We believe that Brass Lion Entertainment can be integral to black and brown stories and the experiences of historically marginalized people [and their representation] in video games and entertainment.”