Foundation 9 Entertainment will soon have another studio under its umbrella. The independent developer has informed us that it will have a new Canadian operation up and running this March. We speak with F9E's VP of Canadian Operations Jeff Vavasour about the expansion.
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GameDaily BIZ can exclusively reveal today that North America's largest independent developer Foundation 9 Entertainment (F9E) is about to get a little larger. On Monday the company will announce that it has plans to open a new studio in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This expansion will bring the number of studios under the F9E umbrella to seven.
Backbone Charlottetown, as the name implies, will serve as a kind of extension for F9E's Backbone (Death Jr.) and will carry the Backbone brand. F9E didn't plan the expansion on its own this time, however. The company collaborated with techPEI, a government corporation charged with development of the technology industry in Prince Edward Island; techPEI offered financial support for the creation of the new studio to help cover set-up and ongoing development costs.
"Not only is there an abundance of untapped talent out there, but the government support makes our costs competitive with overseas solutions," said Jeff Vavasour, VP of Canadian Operations for Foundation 9. "We're gratified to be able to offer these employment opportunities domestically. It's a win-win."
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"The government assistance (and not just in terms of financial assistance) definitely gave us the courage to take the plunge. I'd have to say what happened wouldn't have happened so quickly without their dedicated support," Jeff Vavasour, VP of Canadian Operations
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Backbone Charlottetown is expected to be up and running this March and is looking to employ 20 people by the end of 2006. The new studio gives F9E a stronger presence in Canada (its other location is in Vancouver) and additional resources to tackle the next-gen development challenges that lay ahead. F9E said the Charlottetown operation will have capabilities to develop on all platforms, including next-generation consoles.
"Foundation 9 continues to grow at a pace that outstrips the rest of the gaming industry," commented F9E Co-President Andrew Ayre. "This latest studio not only gives us additional resources to make great games, it also brings a thriving company to a region of Canada keen for economic growth in the technology sector."
In addition to Vancouver and now Prince Edward Island, F9E has studios in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Emeryville, Newport Beach, Eugene, and Honolulu.
Q&A with Jeff Vavasour We caught up with Jeff Vavasour to find out a bit more about F9E's new studio.
GameDaily BIZ: Was the goal of opening this new studio to give F9E a much stronger presence in Canada than it had with just the Vancouver location?
Jeff Vavasour: F9E's studio in Vancouver is a pretty big one. We have over 80 employees. It's [already] a pretty strong presence.
No, we were actually motivated by tapping into new markets for talent. Hiring in Vancouver is becoming quite competitive. Being from Atlantic Canada myself, I know there's a lot of talent out there, but the leap to the West Coast can be costly and daunting. We'd long talked about finding a way to make the industry accessible to the talent out there. This was the perfect opportunity to realise that goal.
BIZ: How important is the government assistance in this endeavor? Would you have looked to Canada without the govt. support?
JV:The government interest was perhaps the nudge that turned our musings into action, but it had been something we'd been contemplating for a while, even if only idly so. We'd been tentatively exploring various options domestic and abroad. (Scotland might be another example.) techPEI has been extraordinary in their support. So, the government assistance (and not just in terms of financial assistance) definitely gave us the courage to take the plunge. I'd have to say what happened wouldn't have happened so quickly without their dedicated support.
BIZ: Is this expansion a sign that F9E is looking to challenge BioWare as one of Canada's best independent developers?
JV: We love BioWare. They do some great work. No, I don't see it as a competitive move at all. I think we share some of the same sensibilities, and definitely have a fondness for nurturing home-grown talent. Canada's technology industry is definitely experiencing growth right now, and I think we're both keen to be a part of that, but there's definitely more than enough room for both of us.
BIZ: Who will head the new studio?
JV: Administratively, Deirdre Ayre will be our person on the ground as Studio Manager, though initially there will be a lot of support from the Vancouver studio and F9E's corporate side, until it reaches a size to be self-sustaining. Deirdre brings a great deal of experience to the table in relation to the government programmes such as the ones we are currently participating in. She'd worked on the other side of the table for some time.
She's also quite experienced in the broader sense of the entertainment industry, having worked in television and radio. So, it's a good fit for F9E's cross-media mandate.
BIZ: What will be Backbone Charlottetown's first project?
JV: Unfortunately, as with any project, our agreements with our publishers don't let us talk about them 'til closer to release. What I can say is that we've got the PEI seed personnel in our Vancouver studio for a month, getting them trained and up to speed on our established technologies here -- such as Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS -- so that they'll be able to bring that experience back to PEI and hit the ground running.
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