Ex-Bioware chief joins Improbable as North American general manager

Improbable has made its way to North America, bringing on-board ex-Bioware general manager Aaryn Flynn to head up a new NA office, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The new office will be using Improbable’s SpatialOS tech to develop new tools, technology and demos – as well as ‘representative game content’ – to show off the abilities of the company’s platform. According to a press release from Improbable, the Edmonton office already has ‘leading talent’ from the games industry working away at creating these elements.

Flynn’s previous role saw him taking a lead role in franchises such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and the Bioware veteran is eager to get to work on providing people with the tools they need, according to his statement released: “To make games you need tools: the developer with the best tools will always have an advantage, because they will be able to get closer to their vision quicker, and iterate more quickly to turn that vision into a successful game.

“I believe that SpatialOS is going to transform how people make and play games, and with this new office we want to help that to happen. We’ve chosen Edmonton because of Alberta’s experienced development talent, and the new developers produced by several excellent schools in the province. We have some plans for our next steps, and we’re looking forward to talking more about them as we grow.”

Joining Flynn at the North American office is Neil Thompson, who comes on board as senior development lead following stints with Psygnosis, Sony Liverpool, Bizarre Creations and, most recently, Bioware.

Herman Narula, CEO of Improbable, said: “Edmonton is a great place to establish this new North American office. Making tools and game content is the next logical step for Improbable, as more developers go beyond the limits of dedicated server architecture into a word of unprecedented scale, complexity and persistence in game design. This is a new world for game development, and I can’t think of a better guide than Aaryn and his team.”