Behaviour Interactive, the development house behind Dead By Daylight and Fallout Shelter, has closed its office in Santiago, Chile, as reported by Gamasutra.
25-year-old development house Behaviour Interactive has elected to close down its offices in Santiago, the capital of Chile. Following hearing of the closure independent, Gamasutra received a reply from the Fallout Shelter developer that they had indeed closed down their offices in Chile. Approximately 30 people have been laid off from the South American office with a handful given the opportunity to relocate to the company's main studio in Montreal, Canada. Behaviour Interactive explained their reasoning in a statement to Gamasutra which we'll reproduce here:
"Behaviour’s vision for our current projects and future ambition requires important technological and creative innovations. Our assessment shows the Montreal ecosystem, with its effervescence, its talent pool and training programs, is better suited to achieve our long-term goals. As such, after a long and thoughtful analysis, we have decided to shut down our Santiago studio." -Behaviour Interactive Communication Manager
The company has been involved in developing a number of titles, largely with a focus on side games for existing properties such as Fallout Shelter, Halo Waypoint, Temple Run Brave, and others. Game developers sometimes a foreign location to save on production costs as the cost of living (and consequently, the salary) is cheaper than that of major Western nations. Aside from the content of their statement, the closure of the Chilean location could have a number of different reasons behind it including a lack of return on investment or overall financial difficulties with the company. Whatever the reason for the closure may be, the fact that the studio still operates in Montreal (which is certainly a more expensive location to operate in compared to Chile) means that they'll still likely be chugging along for some time.
What do you think of Behaviour Interactive closing down their Santiago, Chile location? What do you think the closure and subsequent layoffs mean for the company? Let us know in the comments below!
