Homefront franchise to be co-developed by THQ Montreal: 'Manhattan is an incredibly expensive place'
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As heavily hinted at in comments made by Homefront devs Kaos Studios and publisher THQ eariler this year, it looks like the future of the franchise won't be created solely in The Big Apple. Senior VP of Core Studios Dave Davis spoke to the THQ Montreal/Kaos Studios collaboration during a studio head roundtable this afternoon at GDC. "Wherever the talent is, we will have our studios," Davis told us, though he admitted that "Manhattan is an incredibly expensive place." Yeah, we know all about it, Dave. He also added, "There isn't a [critical mass] talent pool -- many of the people we have there are imported to NYC."
That said, he doesn't see Kaos shutting its doors as its employees relocate to The Great White North. In fact, Kaos has already worked with the Montreal studio (in a relatively cursory sense) on the first game in the franchise. "When finishing Homefront, we had about 10-11 people who helped shipped the original Homefront. And that was talent that we got from Montreal that we couldn't get anywhere else," Davis said. He further assured us that "We're trying to do the best thing for the product and the best thing for the studio, and going forward there will definitely be collaboration." What's not clear is if collaboration means consolidation in this case.
That said, he doesn't see Kaos shutting its doors as its employees relocate to The Great White North. In fact, Kaos has already worked with the Montreal studio (in a relatively cursory sense) on the first game in the franchise. "When finishing Homefront, we had about 10-11 people who helped shipped the original Homefront. And that was talent that we got from Montreal that we couldn't get anywhere else," Davis said. He further assured us that "We're trying to do the best thing for the product and the best thing for the studio, and going forward there will definitely be collaboration." What's not clear is if collaboration means consolidation in this case.
Reader Comments (20)
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 12:41AM aussieCanuck said
CANADA !!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 12:44AM (Unverified) said
...what? They're only in close proximity to Columbia, NYU/Polytech, Hofstra, Stonybrook, a bunch of other private and SUNY/CUNY schools, as well... Rutgers a few miles away. How is there an insufficient talent pool in the New York City area when it has tons of schools with decent to excellent compsci programs? Not to mention all those art schools, when it comes to graphic and sound work. Hell, NYU is launching an a games department.
Calling BS on this one, there's probably some other factor at play. No way could I believe it's a dearth of talent.
Calling BS on this one, there's probably some other factor at play. No way could I believe it's a dearth of talent.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 12:45AM (Unverified) said
Sorry for the grammatical errors, got back from an open bar tonight.
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Posted: Mar 4th 2011 1:57AM Raiki said
@(Unverified)
I'm an electrical engineering major at Columbia, and I can safely say that this is BS. Not only can the CS majors here program well, most of the engineering majors can as well. Programming is a requirement for most students in engineering, and I can say safely that our professors teach it damn well. These guys are just trying to find excuses to leave which I don't blame them for, but calling us incompetent isn't the way to do it.
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I'm an electrical engineering major at Columbia, and I can safely say that this is BS. Not only can the CS majors here program well, most of the engineering majors can as well. Programming is a requirement for most students in engineering, and I can say safely that our professors teach it damn well. These guys are just trying to find excuses to leave which I don't blame them for, but calling us incompetent isn't the way to do it.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 3:36AM AntiVillian said
@Raiki
Maybe it just seems good by America's standards?
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Maybe it just seems good by America's standards?
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 3:54AM Raiki said
@AntiVillian
http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities/articles/2010/09/21/worlds-best-universities-top-400-
Look at 11 & 41. Those are in NYC. American labor just costs a lot more.
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http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities/articles/2010/09/21/worlds-best-universities-top-400-
Look at 11 & 41. Those are in NYC. American labor just costs a lot more.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 9:26AM eat it said
@(Unverified)
yeah most of hte best schools are in the NE but, It's just the cost of living in Manhattan. the only companies that can open up shop with huge office space are the white collar criminal companies like insurance, law, health care, stockbrokers...
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yeah most of hte best schools are in the NE but, It's just the cost of living in Manhattan. the only companies that can open up shop with huge office space are the white collar criminal companies like insurance, law, health care, stockbrokers...
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 5:36PM harlequinfetus10 said
@Raiki
what Dave Davis means is that he can't find quality people in NYC who will work at 70% of average salary. The Canadian government gives huge kickbacks, to the point where talent at one place or another is immaterial. He just doesn't want to say that THQ's looking to save a buck at the cost of a few more American jobs.
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what Dave Davis means is that he can't find quality people in NYC who will work at 70% of average salary. The Canadian government gives huge kickbacks, to the point where talent at one place or another is immaterial. He just doesn't want to say that THQ's looking to save a buck at the cost of a few more American jobs.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 12:49AM FlashJS said
On the upper right of this post, it says there are 3 comments, but I don't see any here. So mine will either be first, or fourth. Lol.
Having lived in NYC before, it is incredibly expensive and not really worth it, even for a city-loving person like myself.
Having lived in NYC before, it is incredibly expensive and not really worth it, even for a city-loving person like myself.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 2:29AM Dukk420 said
They should've just stuck with their first excuse, the 'it's too expensive to operate in NY' excuse. I don't think anybody's buying the 'lack of talent in NY' excuse!!! :)
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 1:53PM yada22 said
@Dukk420
real quick look at the number of AAA game development studios are in NYC compared to LA, Toronto, Austin, Montreal etc.... there is a reason why there is a serious lack of major studios in NYC!!! there is no talent there, they need to be brought in!
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real quick look at the number of AAA game development studios are in NYC compared to LA, Toronto, Austin, Montreal etc.... there is a reason why there is a serious lack of major studios in NYC!!! there is no talent there, they need to be brought in!
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 8:07AM LaughingTarget said
American labor isn't more expensive, New Yorker labor is. Between the cost of living and tax differential, a company in Austin can hire the same person at 70% of the cost without impacting that employee's quality of life. This is on top of reduced tax and regulatory burdens.
Canada has a lower overall tax and regulatory burden on business right now. This is why they're able to out export America 2-1 per capita.
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Canada has a lower overall tax and regulatory burden on business right now. This is why they're able to out export America 2-1 per capita.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 4:43AM xHotPotatox said
Places like Parsons and Tisch are teaching students how to be game designers right here in NYC. Instead of reaching out to these schools, and trying to train individuals their too busy "importing" talent it seems.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 7:11AM Resonanse said
@xHotPotatox "teaching students how to be game designers"
I hope you mean developers [i.e artists, programmers] and not actual designers because the idea that game design is something that can be taught is laughable...I mean I guess you could learn "design" out of a book - you wouldn't be a good designer but I guess it's possible.
[re-post..reply button didn't register...]
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I hope you mean developers [i.e artists, programmers] and not actual designers because the idea that game design is something that can be taught is laughable...I mean I guess you could learn "design" out of a book - you wouldn't be a good designer but I guess it's possible.
[re-post..reply button didn't register...]
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 2:59PM xHotPotatox said
@Resonanse
Just making a generalization, sorry for not apparently being literal enough or anything
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Just making a generalization, sorry for not apparently being literal enough or anything
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 7:11AM Resonanse said
"teaching students how to be game designers"
I hope you mean developers [i.e artists, programmers] and not actual designers because the idea that game design is something that can be taught is laughable...I mean I guess you could learn "design" out of a book - you wouldn't be a good designer but I guess it's possible.
I hope you mean developers [i.e artists, programmers] and not actual designers because the idea that game design is something that can be taught is laughable...I mean I guess you could learn "design" out of a book - you wouldn't be a good designer but I guess it's possible.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 9:42AM (Unverified) said
@Resonanse
Pretty sure you can teach game design. Pretty sure because there exist classes in it at my universities. Just because something seems purely creative, doesn't mean it can't be refined and doesn't mean there aren't underlying rules that one operates by. Look at creative writing, as one example. Some people can just naturally compose a sentence better, but they may not be able to intuit the foundations of story composition. It's not an easy thing to just grasp or deduce on one's own, it's both a sort of cultural knowledge that's evolved (with less-intuitive story styles being shelved or forgotten) or a professional knowledge that takes time to acquire--like how to compose a New York Times Best Seller, because trust me, they are formulaic.
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Pretty sure you can teach game design. Pretty sure because there exist classes in it at my universities. Just because something seems purely creative, doesn't mean it can't be refined and doesn't mean there aren't underlying rules that one operates by. Look at creative writing, as one example. Some people can just naturally compose a sentence better, but they may not be able to intuit the foundations of story composition. It's not an easy thing to just grasp or deduce on one's own, it's both a sort of cultural knowledge that's evolved (with less-intuitive story styles being shelved or forgotten) or a professional knowledge that takes time to acquire--like how to compose a New York Times Best Seller, because trust me, they are formulaic.
Posted: Mar 4th 2011 10:04AM OmeletPants said
When are voters going to realize that these tax loving liberals that we put in office are scaring businesses away? I see it all the time in California, and I don't blame these companies from packing up and leaving the country.
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