Insomniac to Open Studio in North Carolina

RALEIGH, NC--North Carolina is becoming a hotbed of video game development. Insomniac Games is the latest game company to target the Raleigh-Durham area (known as the Research Triangle with its collection of technology, video game and biotech companies) as the perfect location to make games. For the first time in its 14-year history, the independent developer is expanding beyond its Burbank, California studio.

According to Ted Price, founder and CEO of Insomniac, the plan is to find an office space over the coming months and open its doors by January 2009. Chad Dezern, Insomniac's art director, will serve as the North Carolina studio director while veteran Insomniac gameplay lead Shaun McCabe will assume the role of production director. These two veterans have a shared 15 years of game development experience at Insomniac. Upon their completion of Resistance 2, McCabe and Dezern will move to North Carolina this fall to oversee hiring of 25 to 30 developers and lay the studio's foundation.

The North Carolina studio will also be known as Insomniac Games, and will focus both on developing current and new intellectual properties. While the new studio will operate largely autonomously from Insomniac's Burbank group, it will receive administrative support along with shared tools and technology.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for us to start a new group with the same philosophy that we've built up over the last 14 years at Insomniac, which is to have a team focused on top craftsmanship and attention to detail," said Price. "What's great about this team is that it's an opportunity for Insomniac to expand without increasing our number in Burbank. It's great to have a team that has that start-up mentality with a small group of people who are very focused on creating AAA games, but on the other side of the country. It gives us a great opportunity to bring on folks who may not have the ability to make it to the West Coast or who prefer the East Coast to the West Coast."

Burbank currently has 175 people working on various projects, including Sony's PlayStation 3 sequel, Resistance 2, which ships this fall. Price said the Burbank number will shrink down to 150 once testing for that game is complete. Although the North Carolina studio will have a team of about 30, Price said they will be able to create PS3 games on their own.

"Traditionally, we've had more than 30 people working on a title, but over the past few years we've learned a lot about product management and how to create more effective and more efficient pipelines," said Price. "We have a good handle on the PlayStation 3 technology. The tools and technology we've developed over the last couple of years have enabled us to develop AAA games with smaller teams."

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