Square Enix to open new Canadian studio for next wave of consoles

Japanese publisher Square Enix is planning a second studio in Canada, looking to take advantage of millions of dollars in subsidies and the region's generous tax incentives to create games for a new wave of home consoles.

Planned to open in 2012 and host at least 100 employees, there are three locations in the running - Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, according to Canadian paper La Presse.

Square Enix already has the Eidos Montreal studio, and its director Stéphane D'Astous is charged with finding the new location, telling La Presse that "the negotiating process has begun."

The new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will require more attention and more staff. We want to prepare ourselves

Stéphane D'Astous, Eidos Montreal.

While another base in Montreal would be advantageous for closer working relationships, it's the direct subsidies from the Quebec government that are more appealing - it handed Warner Bros $7.5 million and THQ $3.1 million to settle there recently.

The location will be chosen by Square Enix at the end of May. The new studio will be a base for staff to work on games for the next generation of home hardware, said D'Astous.

"The new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will require more attention and more staff," he said. "We want to prepare ourselves."

According to the report, Square Enix has already looked at and dismissed Raleigh, Atlanta and Orlando as locations for the new studio.

Eidos Montreal is currently at work on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, to be published this August.