Offworld Industries founder, Will ‘Merlin’ Stahl to step down as CEO after seven years… But following Offworld Industries biggest year yet, Stahl looks to the future
Today, Will Stahl, Co-Founder & CEO of Offworld Industries, developers of the Project Reality mod and the critically lauded military warfare simulator, Squad, is announcing that, after seven years, he will be leaving the company before the end of the year.
Will has been involved in Offworld Industries since its formation both as an early leader of the company and later formally it's CEO. During his tenure he has worked to get Offworld on the map as a growing Indie Developer, and has helped shepherd Offworld's expansion into both an indie publisher, and a licensor of the first person shooter technology that powers Squad. Earlier this year, Squad left Early Access to critical acclaim and surpassed Offworld’s expectations for 2020. The company also published Redstone Interactive’s WWI sim, Beyond The Wire into Early Access, where it has received a strong early reception.
Will leaves Offworld Industries after its most successful year yet. The recent launches of Squad and Beyond the Wire have given the company its strongest-ever position and momentum in the years ahead.
Will will remain involved with Offworld Industries as an advisor, board member, and shareholder, as well as overseeing the transition period and selection process for Offworld Industries’ new CEO. Effective immediately, Offworld Industries has created an executive board composed of Will, senior managers, and board members to divide the responsibilities of the CEO role during this transition.
“It has been nearly half of my life that I have been involved in Project Reality, Squad, and Offworld as a player, modder, and developer, and that time has been both an incredible journey and has produced experiences that I will forever cherish. What started as a group of modders simply trying to build a game out of a mod we all loved and be able to make a living doing what was once a hobby, has turned into what I see as a growing indie development ecosystem”, said Will. “This decision is a personal one that I had been considering for some time, as I’ve realized that in particular with the success of Squad leaving early access and exceeding our financial expectations for 2020, as well as our publishing project Beyond the Wire launching into Early Access, Offworld Industries is now stronger than it’s ever been before.”
Squad will continue to receive content and functionality updates in addition to a slate of new and exciting announcements planned from Offworld Industries across 2021 and beyond.
An announcement on the appointment of Offworld Industries new CEO will be made in due course.
About Offworld Industries
Offworld Industries was founded in 2014 by a group of game modders on a mission to build a full game version of the Project Reality mod. Aiming to help other developers on a similar journey to make a living creating games, Offworld Industries is both an independent game development and a publishing studio. To aid in that effort, it licenses the Squad Framework to partner studios to provide an agile development framework for new titles. Offworld Industries has published two military tactical shooter games – Squad, the studio's internally-developed modern tactical FPS, and Post Scriptum, a World War II team-based FPS developed by Periscope Games. They are also the publisher of Redstone Interactive's WWI game titled Beyond The Wire, which launched on Steam Early Access last year. For more information about Offworld Industries, please visit: https://www.offworldindustries.com/
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