Citing advantageous tax breaks, Frontier Developments of the hit success LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare, 2008) has opened its first development studio outside the borders of the UK. They’ve placed this new location in Nova Scotia, Canada.
David Walsh, president of the company, spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about the whys of moving to the Maritime province: “We’ve had a dialogue with the people from Nova Scotia for a while and it looks like a really attractive place…” He also mentioned that moving to North America was a “strategic move” for the company’s presence in the industry.
They weren’t just after tax breaks, though—they were also looking for a few good people. Walsh said, “It’s people that make games, not tax credits.” And while we’re not sure yet if the company will be developing games for the Wii U, Walsh did confirm that the current focus is on mobile gaming: “We’ve got a good spread f projects … we’re moving in to more mobile, smartphone, tablet projects, of which LostWinds was our first step.”
