Canadian studio expansion continues: Beenox follows suit

It seems that over a flurry of this first quarter in the year, major development studios in Canada have been announcing their efforts to expand their workforce, studio size and operations. And surprisingly, this is also in spite of a sporadic trend of company downsizing for major game companies, like Atari and Sony.

 

Up next in the list of Canada-based studios is Quebec developer Beenox, those responsible for delivering the PC versions of Shrek: The Third and Spider-Man 3 (aside from Marvel Ultimate Alliance, also for the PC). As a subsidiary of major gaming publisher Activision, Beenox has announced in a press release today that they too have plans to expand their employee base by three-fold in the next two years.

Granting that the game developer’s move will open up more than 200 job positions for game-related careers, it’s a lot helpful to the current government’s program to expand the gaming industry the major regions of Canada, including Quebec. They claim that the new additions to their team will help Beenox to include next-generation console development in their repertoire. Robin Kaminsky, executive VP of Activision, concluded the announcement saying:

Activision is making a significant investment in Beenox and the Quebec region, which is one of the fastest growing talent pools in North America. Beenox has consistently delivered high-quality titles and we are confident in their ability to continue creating great games in the coming years.

At least they’re not aiming to be the biggest studio.

It seems that over a flurry of this first quarter in the year, major development studios in Canada have been announcing their efforts to expand their workforce, studio size and operations. And surprisingly, this is also in spite of a sporadic trend of company downsizing for major game companies, like Atari and Sony.

 

Up next in the list of Canada-based studios is Quebec developer Beenox, those responsible for delivering the PC versions of Shrek: The Third and Spider-Man 3 (aside from Marvel Ultimate Alliance, also for the PC). As a subsidiary of major gaming publisher Activision, Beenox has announced in a press release today that they too have plans to expand their employee base by three-fold in the next two years.

Granting that the game developer’s move will open up more than 200 job positions for game-related careers, it’s a lot helpful to the current government’s program to expand the gaming industry the major regions of Canada, including Quebec. They claim that the new additions to their team will help Beenox to include next-generation console development in their repertoire. Robin Kaminsky, executive VP of Activision, concluded the announcement saying:

Activision is making a significant investment in Beenox and the Quebec region, which is one of the fastest growing talent pools in North America. Beenox has consistently delivered high-quality titles and we are confident in their ability to continue creating great games in the coming years.

At least they’re not aiming to be the biggest studio.