After a summer of high-profile exits, Vancouver’s beleaguered video game industry will receive a massive dose of good news Thursday when Microsoft Studios officially opens the doors to a new game design studio in the city’s Yaletown district.
Black Tusk Studios, located at the corner of Robson and Cambie streets, will focus on the development of Triple A games, which to the layperson, is the video game equivalent of a Hollywood summer blockbuster, said studio manager Mike Crump.
“So we are talking big budget, big team, long development timeline and very, very big projects that take a number of years to get through,” said Crump.
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The studio will also focus on developing Microsoft’s next big franchise to add to its existing portfolio of high-profile game products such as Halo, Gears of War and Fable, Crump said.
Crump said the studio has a team of 50 and will be looking to double that size by the end of the year. A recruitment plan is already in the works and job postings can be viewed on the studio’s website at http://www.blacktuskstudios.com.
“We will keep growing from there,” said Crump. “I can’t give a final number as to where we will land, but certainly the growth will continue beyond this year and we are talking about exponential growth.”
The opening of a new studio will be a welcome change of news for Vancouver’s video game industry. Over the summer, two big name studios – Radical Entertainment and Rockstar Games – shut the doors on their local operations.
Crump said Vancouver’s rich heritage in game development, its depth of local talent and its desirable location – including its proximity to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. – make it an ideal spot to grow a new studio.
“We believe in Vancouver very strongly and that is one of the key things we want to get out there,” he said. “Some of the world’s biggest game franchises were created here and that is not going to change going forward.”
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