14 DAY TRIAL // More and more countries seem to lose income-tax generators, as large game developers are slowly relocating from their native lands to colder climates. The “Blame Canada” tune will pop in a lot of heads, as the city of Montreal will house yet another game studio. THQ has just announced that it plans to open up a new studio in the city and that will be ready for business half way through 2010. The city already houses many other game developers, like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Eidos and even Funcom. As far as human resources go, THQ estimates that, in the next five years, the company will provide around 400 new job openings.
At the head of the studio will be Dave Gatchel, who was previously responsible for Paradigm Entertainment, where he served as general manager. Paradigm was shut down by the publisher last year, in November, along with five other studios owned by THQ. This was part of a plan to cut back on costs by $220 million and reduce the workforce by around 24 percent, in what now, with the proper hindsight, some may see as a very business-wise decision, considering the tough times the gaming industry went through this year.
The first game to be released by THQ's Montreal branch is expected in 2013, and, with a three-year deadline, there is no surprise that there isn't a shred of detail regarding the title. The studio is expected to take over as the main driving engine for development, and, as such, it's hiring, and hiring big. At the moment, job openings include positions for design, engineering, content and technology development, art, quality assurance and localization.
As far as responsibilities go, the new-founded studio is expected to handle titles for the core market, but also to support other THQ studios. With just one title in schedule, and one that carries a three-year deadline, THQ Montreal fits with the publisher's quality-over-quantity strategy that it decided on back in 2008, when the major refurbishing was made. At least this should mean that the 2013-expected game will be something to look forward to.