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Gateshead’s Atomhawk on ‘biggest games project to date’ for Warner Brothers

Digital art and design studio Atomhawk has completed work for Warner Brothers’ NetherRealm studio on top-selling video game Injustice 2.

Releasing a selection of concept art from their visual design work, the Gateshead-based business spent over three years working on the game, with almost every studio member contributing to its creation.

NetherRealm invited Atomhawk to propose key visual themes for the new game, which then led to the creation of concept art for fightlines, story modes, characters, breakouts and the game’s sophisticated gear system.

The company’s involvement in Injustice 2 follows on from their concept art and animation work for the first game in the franchise, Injustice: Gods Among Us, released in April 2013. The studio also partnered with Warner Brother’s NetherRealm studio on the two most recent Mortal Kombat releases.

Ron Ashtiani, Atomhawk CEO and founder, explained: “Injustice 2 has been our biggest games project to date as we were fortunate to be involved from the very early days and have been an integral part of the team throughout its production.

“Not only did we create a vast and varied amount of concept assets but we also created a large selection of animated character endings which we’re really proud of too.”

The character design for the game included recreating a broad selection of heroes and villains from the well-known likes of Superman, Cat Woman and Wonder Woman to the lesser-known inhabitants of the DC Universe, such as Firestorm, Black Canary and Green Arrow.

The fightline environments created by the studio also spanned a diverse and striking set of locations from the Arkham Asylum to Swamp Thing’s Swamp and the bleak Fortress of Solitude.

Ashtiani added: “The fight lines in Injustice 2 create a new level of interaction with the player characters.

“As a result, we had to dial up the level of realism while also creating something fun and in line with the DC Universe. The direction in which NetherRealm has taken the fighting genre is very exciting and I can only see the environment interaction level in games of this kind increasing.”