Hothead Games opens new Halifax studio

Canadian indie developer Hothead Games is expanding, opening a new studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The move will grow the company's headcount to 130 people.

"With our success on mobile and our heavy emphasis on the games as a service model, we have been hiring aggressively recently in all areas of the business, from game design and production to marketing, analytics and customer support. The team that we assembled in Halifax is really impressive. We've already given them a lot of freedom and ownership over their projects. Currently they are focused on our first person shooter game, Kill Shot,"Hothead's Vlad Ceraldi told GamesIndustry.biz

"They are working on some new technologies for the franchise, which will ensure the game stays relevant and engaging for new players as well people that have been playing the game since it launched a year ago."

The new studio has a development team of 25 people.

"Not only is it exciting to be working as part of a successful mobile games team on a global stage, but it gives us great pleasure to represent Halifax and the east coast of Canada, with its growing technology and games sector," added producer Chris Pink.

Hothead hit the headlines last year when Glu Mobile sued the company and claimed Kill Shot was a "complete rip-off" of its own mobile title, Deer Hunter 2014. The case was settled last month.

"Hothead has agreed to make payments to us, including ongoing payments, the details of which are confidential," said Glu Mobile attorney Jennifer Kelly of Fenwick & West.