Avalanche Studios opens NYC studio, working on 'Project Mamba' for 2014
Right on schedule, Swedish developer Avalanche Studios announced the official opening of its new New York City studio today, headed up by Activision and Atari veteran David Grijns. Avalanche, best known for its work on the Just Cause titles and this year's downloadable Renegade Ops, says the NYC location has 10,000 square feet of space with "an option on an additional 3,000 square feet for future expansion." That space will house "up to 50 new staff within the next 12 months," including a "core team comprised of senior staff from Avalanche's Stockholm headquarters."
This is all in service of Project Mamba, the unannounced AAA title teased in June when the expansion plans were first revealed. While the initial announcement only pointed to "next-generation platforms" for the 2014 project, today's announcement cites "console platforms and PC."
"Today is a great day for Avalanche Studios as we have achieved yet another goal by establishing a new studio in the greatest city in North America. We are one of the few independent, AAA-budget studios remaining in the world after the disastrous economic recession of the last few years," Avalanche Studios founder Christofer Sundberg said in a press release. "While this was a huge wake-up call for everyone in our industry, we have prepared for this expansion for over three years and it is a great feeling to execute our plans with such resounding success."
With some of the most expensive real estate in North America, an increasingly competitive AAA video game industry, and a global recession with no end in sight, we're not quite ready to call Avalanche's new studio a "resounding success" just yet, but we wish them all the best regardless.
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Avalanche Studios Announces Opening of New York Studio
NEW YORK, 16 November 2011 – Avalanche Studios (www.avalanchestudios.se), original creators and developers of the award-winning Just Cause franchise and the recently released and critically acclaimed Renegade Ops, announced today the official opening of their new studio in New York City.
Headed by former Activision and Atari executive, David Grijns, the studio is based in a new custom-designed 10,000 square foot facility located in the heart of Manhattan's SoHo district. The studio plans to hire up to 50 new staff within the next 12 months and has taken an option on an additional 3,000 square feet for future expansion.
"Today is a great day for Avalanche Studios as we have achieved yet another goal by establishing a new studio in the greatest city in North America. We are one of the few independent, AAA-budget studios remaining in the world after the disastrous economic recession of the last few years. While this was a huge wake-up call for everyone in our industry, we have prepared for this expansion for over three years and it is a great feeling to execute our plans with such resounding success," commented Avalanche Studios founder and Executive Producer Christofer Sundberg.
The New York studio's premiere project, codenamed Project Mamba, is an unannounced AAA title scheduled for release on console platforms and PC in 2014. A core team comprised of senior staff from Avalanche's Stockholm headquarters and bolstered by new talent recruited from New York and around the world is currently hard at work on the new project.
For more information regarding job postings in both the New York and Stockholm studios, please visit Avalanche's website at www.avalanchetudios.se.
About Avalanche Studios
Avalanche Studios was founded in 2003 by Christofer Sundberg and Linus Blomberg and are the original creators of the award-winning Just Cause franchise (published by Eidos/Square Enix). The Avalanche Studios headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden. The company develops games based on its proprietary technology, enabling unique open-worlds to be created based on original or licensed content. In June 2011, the company announced its expansion into North America with the opening of a new studio in New York City. Avalanche Studios recently released its first XBLA/PSN/PC game, Renegade Ops (published by SEGA), which has received great critical acclaim. More information and job listings are available on Avalanche Studios website: www.avalanchestudios.se.
