Montreal Reels In Eidos News
Jon Wilcox
16/02/2007
The UK-based publisher confirms that work is under way to open a new development studio in the Quebec city...
Eidos has today confirmed plans to open a new developer studio in Montreal, following in the footsteps of Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. Focusing on the development of games for the next-generation home consoles, Eidos Montreal is the latest internal studio to be established, following Eidos Sweden and Eidos Studios Hungary, which created Battlestations: Midway.
"This is a really exciting time for Eidos, we are actively looking for opportunities to further our drive to become a major force in global videogames publishing. Montreal is the ideal location to open a new studio because of its thriving game development community and favourable economics," said Bill Ennis, Commercial Director, Eidos.
"We are very happy to welcome Eidos, the largest video games publisher in the United Kingdom to Québec. Our talented workers, competitive operating costs and the support of our government have enabled Québec to become the sector leader in Canada and attract industry's major players, like Eidos," said Raymond Bachand, the Québec Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade.
The publisher has appointed Stephane Dastous as General Manager of Eidos Montrel, who commented that: "I'm really delighted to be joining Eidos who deserve their worldwide recognition for some fantastic games. I look forward to establishing a brand new studio that will continue this legacy and develop AAA, next-generation titles that will demonstrate once again the expertise and knowledge we have in Montreal," said Stephane Dastous, General Manager, Eidos Montreal.
Montreal is increasingly becoming a 'gold-rush' city for videogame publishers, thanks to incentives from the Quebec government, and the pool of resources available - though surely there's a danger that the pool could run dry...