Wargaming opens UK studio for new MMO
Studio to lead the development of a new free-to-play IP
Wargaming has opened a new office in Guildford, UK.
The World of Tanks creator has hired Sean Decker to lead the new outfit, which is looking to initially house a 25-person development team.
The new outfit will work on an 'unannounced free-to-play multiplatorm MMO title', which uses the Unreal Engine.
Decker is a 17-year video game development veteran. He spent 12 years at EA in various roles, including senior producer at Maxis (working on SimCity), Executive Producer at DICE, and then later VP and general manager at DICE (where he worked on games such as Mirror's Edge and Battlefield). He was also VP at EA LA and VP of EA's Play4Free label. In 2013 he joined CCP as senior vice president, working on Eve Online.
He officially joined Wargaming in May.
He tells Gamesindustry.biz that the team's initial 25-person team will scale as the project develops and that the new IP will be created primarily in Guildford.
"There's a fantastic talent pool in the UK, especially in Guildford, in terms of game development and with great links throughout Europe, it's the place to be based in," he tells us.
"At the moment, [25] is the immediate ambition for the size of the team. However, over time and through the development cycle, we aim to scale accordingly."
He commented: "With the expansion of Wargaming throughout many continents and countries, I'm excited to be opening up this studio in the UK and leading the development of a new Wargaming title."
Wargaming currently operates from 15 different offices worldwide. Its biggest hit is the MMO World of Tanks, but it's been making efforts to expand its operations. It has established two publishing labels, rebooted the classic strategy franchise Masters of Orion through its WG Labs platform and even branched into casual gaming through a partnership with Melsoft.
In May this year, Wargaming closed its Seattle Studio (previously Gas Powered Games, which it acquired in 2013) as part of a global restructure. That studio was also working on an unannounced MMO.