The first Canadian studio of the American video game company 2K Games will open soon in Montreal. Called Cloud Chamber, this office will have as its first mandate to work on the next part of the BioShock series, one of the most acclaimed of the modern era of video games.
Cloud Chamber Montréal will be directed by Ken Schachter, founder of the Montreal studio Trapdoor, which notably published the successful independent game FEZ in 2012.
“We are extremely excited to be creating the first 2K studio in Canada and [offering] BioShock to its passionate audience,” “said Schachter in a statement.
2K Games also explained that its decision to open an office in Montreal was facilitated by the Government of Quebec and Montreal International.
The company has not yet specified how many jobs will be created within Cloud Chamber, which is already seeking to fill about twenty positions, according to information on its website.
With more than 1,200 people employed in the United States, 2K Games is the last tenor in the industry to move to Montreal, joining the ranks of Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Eidos, Warner Bros. and the newest Games and Entertainment Stadia. The company produces, among others, the Borderlands, Civilization, Mafia, XCOM and NBA series.
The city is considered to be the first video game production center in Canada and has more than 140 studios. The industry is growing rapidly in Quebec: it has more than 13,000 jobs and generates economic spinoffs approaching $1 billion, generating $827 million in 2017.
Several years until the next BioShock
BioShock’s latest entry, BioShock Infinite, was released in 2013. It will take several years to see the next game in the series, so it will only be available on next generation consoles.
At least that was suggested by Kelley Gilmore, director of the new California branch of Cloud Chamber, in an interview with the media GamesRadar. His studio will work with Cloud Chamber Montreal in the design of the game.
Cloud Chamber has big shoes to put on with the next BioShock, especially because the famous creator of the series, Ken Levine, left 2K Games after its restructuring in 2015. He then founded his own studio, Ghost Story Games, where today work several members of the original BioShock team.