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The head of Silicon Knights, Denis Dyack, has said he is planning to add another 80 staff to his Niagara, Canada-based studio – which will take the firm’s head count to almost 250.
Silicon Knights currently boasts 165 staff – the studio is currently working on Too Human for Microsoft.
Speaking to Canadian newspaper The Tribune, Dyack said that the Niagara region was gearing up to become a big component in the global games development scene.
The Canadian state has just launched nGen, a new-media technology incubator designed to help nurture "a new generation of interactive entertainment companies" in the region.
"Niagara has always been an industrial city and that’s starting to change," said Dyack. "We’re going to start seeing things in this region that people are not used to."
nGen has been formed from a partnership between Brock University, Niagara College, regional and city governments, Niagara Economic Development Corp and the Niagara Enterprise Agency. Towards nGen’s two-year, $560,000 budget, the Ministry of Culture is providing $245,000 in startup money.
Government subsidies have become a key part in the Canadian games development scene’s success – many publishers have enjoyed tax breaks and subsidies in the country which have aided their studios’ growth.
