Troy Baker has had enough of being the hired gun. The man behind Joel in The Last of Us and countless other icons is now piecing together a studio with trusted collaborators to tell his own tales, drawing on lessons from the industry's heavy hitters.

Speaking on the Kinda Funny Gamescast last week, Baker laid it out plain: "I am excited about building a studio with people that I've worked with, that I trust, and going, 'Here's my idea. How can you make it better?'" He's emulating processes from Todd Howard, Hideo Kojima, Neil Druckmann, Ken Levine, and Vince Zampella—titans whose games defined eras. No rush, though; Baker's taking his time, unlike the assembly-line slop flooding Steam. Inspired by Abubakar Salim's Tales of Kenzera: Zau, he's warned the space is ruthless but undeterred.

This isn't Baker's first indie flirtation—Mouse: P.I. for Hire just dropped with him front and center. Community reaction splits predictably: Reddit threads question his dev chops ("What qualifies him to run a studio?"), while X buzz mostly echoes the news without fireworks. Voice actors grabbing the reins signals a shift from mocap mules to creators, especially amid AI layoffs and strikes. Lower barriers like Unreal Engine 5 help, but execution separates the Joels from the Jojos.

Baker's got the network and name. If he avoids the pitfalls that buried other celebrity ventures, this could actually slap. Otherwise, it's another participation trophy in a crowded landfill.