Canadian government grants funds to Eidos Montreal for the studio to double in size.
Governments have a love/hate relationship with videogame companies. On the one hand, games corrupt the youth, but studios are also a great source of the high-tech jobs that voters want in their region nowadays. Perhaps the latter is why Quebec bestowed a grant for $2 million CAD ($2,044,430 US) for Eidos Montreal to grow the studio by adding 350 new jobs. The studio recently shipped Deus Ex: Human Revolution – which people seem to like – but that likely didn’t have much to do with Quebec’s decision to fund the company as bureaucratic legislation needs just as much time to develop as games do. The grant stipulates that 100 jobs be added by the end of 2011 and an additional 250 positions created by 2015.
Eidos Montreal is also working on Thief 4 and an unannounced game with a new IP, but they will probably be able to tackle more projects given this expansion. The influx of cash will make Eidos Montreal the third largest studio in the French Canadian city, behind Ubisoft Montreal and EA Montreal, but the deal further crystallizes the area as a hotbed for game development.
Square Enix, Eidos Montreal’s publisher, was not involved in the grant, but I’m looking forward to the studio using its windfall of new resources to make some awesome freaking games.
The bar has been set with Deus Ex: Human Revolution and this $2 million grant, Eidos Montreal. Lets see what you got.
Source: La Presse Affaires via CVG
Published: Sep 1, 2011 06:40 pm