Avalanche to open New York studio

Swedish group Avalanche Studios is preparing to expand into America with a new development studio based in New York, the company has announced.

The independent Just Cause creator’s base of operations is located in the Swedish city of Stockholm, yet studio co-founder believes the New York satellite studio “provides us with a diverse talent pool from which to create our next big console title”.

Avalanche’s announcement comes just days after THQ announced it is in the process of closing down Kaos Studios, also based in New York.

“While many publishers and developers are expanding their operations in over-crowded areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle or relocating their staff to Canada, New York provides us with a diverse talent pool from which to create our next big console title," said company founder Christofer Sundberg.

The American studio will focus on building “online-enabled original IP” and will be led by David Grijns, the former Activision and Atari executive.