Calgary has a new tech firm of its very own after a Denver-based video game company announced it would be setting up a brand new office in the city.
New World Interactive, which specializes in first person shooter games has released three games so far on the PC market; Insurgency, Day of Infamy and Insurgency: Sandstorm.
Company president Keith Warner says the firm’s Calgary headquarters, called New World North Limited, will help them launch their games in the console market.
He says they were very interested in opening north of the border and narrowed their field down to only two cities.
“Calgary ticked every single box for us except we were concerned about the talent or lack of talent in this area versus the alternative, Toronto, where there is a limitless pool of talent.”
What tipped the scales for Cowtown, he says, was the higher quality of life, lower cost of living and better incentives for them to do business here. He adds the enthusiasm they experienced helped a lot too.
“We were embraced with open arms by the entire community. They are hungry for somebody like us and the groundswell, the outpouring has been extraordinary.”
As for employment, Warner says they are looking to infill their team with a lot of Calgarians.
“We are screening for Calgarians first, Canadians second and, if we exhaust that pool and can’t find the talent we want, we’ll consider going outside of the country, but that’s not our preference.”
However, the competition will be very stiff for those positions. By the end of the year, NWI hopes to fill 12 to 15 positions. Warner says he’s gotten a lot of interest just two days in.
“I was up until 12:45 a.m. last night responding to several hundred. I haven’t touched my emails today and I have several hundred more. We’re only on day two so I anticipate we will get thousands of applicants.”
Once the company gets settled in Calgary, Warner says he expects New World North to be a team of about 50 to 60 people.
“It really depends on how our projects go and how we scope our projects and what kind of support we get from the publishing and/or investing community.”
Warner says expanding in Calgary is an exciting opportunity for them too.
“I pulled onto 4 Avenue and I really felt like I’d pulled into home. What I mean by that is back into Denver, but 20 or 30 years ago,” he says. “It’s been mind-boggling. It’s not like anywhere else. I can’t liken the people I’ve met here and their interest in us to anywhere else I’ve been.”
