VICTORIA – Microsoft will open a major game design studio in downtown Victoria early in the new year that could employ as many as 60 people.
In an exclusive interview with the Victoria Times Colonist, the technical director of the project said Victoria was chosen for its strategic location to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and for its “livability,” which will help attract the best and brightest in creative, production and design in the highly competitive multi-billion-dollar global gaming industry.
Chris Robertson said it also helps that Don Mattrick, the head of Microsoft’s gaming division and former president of Electronic Arts, is a Victoria-area resident and didn’t have to be sold on the idea that B.C.’s capital was an easy alternative to expanding in Vancouver.
“The sun shines over here, there are no hour-long commutes, housing prices are half as much . . . it was an easy decision,” said Robertson, an industry veteran who lives in Victoria and sold his gaming company, Blackbox, to Electronic Arts when Mattrick led the firm.
“We wanted to live where we worked and we love the community feel of Victoria . . . the walkability, the village centres, the bike lanes.”
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Microsoft designs games in centres all over the world with partners, but does most of its in-house work at the Redmond campus and Vancouver, where the company employs 165 people.
The world’s largest software company has been quietly remodelling former government office space over the last several months.
The facility, to be called Microsoft Studios Victoria, will feature an open, modern design and rooftop garden. Microsoft has an option for the floor below to allow for expansion of its workforce.
The site was chosen for its downtown waterfront location and proximity to seaplanes and ferries to Seattle, said Robertson.
In an email statement, Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division, said Victoria is well-positioned as a game design hub. “Victoria offers proximity to world-class universities, a thriving, advanced technology industry with a highly educated and skilled workforce, located in one of Canada’s best communities to live in,” he said.
“We truly believe our new Victoria studio will house the best and brightest developers both in Canada and worldwide.”
Post-secondary institutions and the local technology sector were thrilled with Microsoft’s decision, saying the company’s “star power” on the global stage will put Victoria on the map and help to attract the best and brightest for universities and other technology companies.
The initial team includes Robertson, his wife and games designer Joanne Parker Robertson and former Electronic Arts veteran Eduardo DeMarta, who will be the studio director.
They aren’t revealing what games will be produced in Victoria, as development in the competitive industry is always secret, but indicated they would be designing for several formats, including Microsoft’s XBox as well as mobile and tablet formats. The XBox had a shaky start, but its successor, the XBox 360, has gained considerable ground and is the fastest growing console on the market, having recently surpassed Sony’s PlayStation 3 and trending to knock off Nintendo “within the year,” said Robertson.
The Robertsons and DeMarta are perhaps best known for the creation of the EA Blackbox franchise Need for Speed, which sold more than 50 million units over a five-year period.
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