Today, Certain Affinity, the largest video game developer in Austin, TX, announced that they would be opening a second studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Recently, Certain Affinity celebrated its 12th anniversary. Since its inception, the studio "has developed or co-developed 29 products across 12 different franchises, with over 100 million units sold." The reason for the Toronto studio's existence is to support the Austin studio during the creation of its original IP title, Last Expedition, a sci-fi co-op FPS.
"Toronto is becoming a hub for game development with its progressive and multicultural environment and its thriving design and technical talent pool. We have built a company not only with top talent and benefits, but also with one of the game industry's most inclusive and diverse cultures, and we look forward to bringing this mindset to our new Toronto studio and to being a positive member of the Toronto business community." - Max Hoberman, Certain Affinity's President and Founder.Up to 60 new developers are expected to be hired and fully integrated with Certain Affinity's Austin office, which currently has over 170 full-time employees. With Last Expedition, Certain Affinity is currently aiming to develop titles of their own, rather than contribute to other studios' titles and franchises such as Halo, Doom, Call of Duty, and Left 4 Dead.
Quick Take
While it's great to see some positive news coming out of the gaming industry, I'm only really writing this article because of one game in particular: Age of Booty, a small, niche title that was a lot of fun to play. Certain Affinity developed and published it back in 2008, and for over a decade I've been waiting for a sequel. Do you hear me, Certain Affinity? There are dozens of us! A new Age of Booty game in the modern era would be fantastic, especially if they included the map-editor and sharing capabilities of its predecessor.What do you think of this news? Have you ever heard of Certain Affinity or Age of Booty? Let us know in the comments!
