Frontier Developments Celebrates Official Halifax Opening

World-leading independent game development studio Frontier Developments has opened its first North America office in Halifax adding good jobs to Nova Scotia's knowledge-based economy.

"This is exciting news for our technology sector and for Nova Scotia," said Percy Paris, Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism. "Frontier Developments will create good jobs for our talented workforce and grow the economy."

The opening celebration kicks-off the first HPX Digital Conference, Wednesday, Oct. 17. The conference is a technology-focused Halifax Pop Explosion event expected to attract attendees from Atlantic Canada and the eastern United States.

"This sector helps retain our young and educated graduates and helps attract leading talent from around the globe," said Mat Whynott, Ministerial Assistant for Youth. "The skills needed for this industry are transferable to simulation, a growing field connected to military training and testing."

The company announced in August it had chosen Nova Scotia as its location outside the U.K.

"This marks a major milestone for Frontier Developments," said David Braben, founder, Frontier Developments. "Opening an office in North America is an important part of our strategy to establish a strong presence in key markets."

The studio has already hired about 20 people and is looking to add programmers, games designers and senior artists. Resumes can be submitted online at www.frontier.co.uk.

The company will showcase its anticipated game, Coaster Crazy, to be released on Apple's iOS devices for the holidays. The game will be shown to the general public for the first time during the HPX Digital Conference.

"Four years after our first meeting with NSBI and its partners, we have successfully opened our new office in Nova Scotia. We have a team of talented individuals that we are now wanting to expand," said David Walsh, COO, Frontier Developments. "The Halifax studio will work on world-class games for all gaming platforms."

The U.K.-based company develops games for consoles, smartphones, tablets and PCs. Previous titles include RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 with Atari, Kinect Disneyland Adventures and the Kinectimals series with Microsoft, and the self-published LostWinds series on Nintendo Wii and Apple's iOS devices.

"We have seen incredible growth since we identified the game development sector as an opportunity for Nova Scotia in 2007," said Stephen Lund, president and CEO, NSBI. "Focusing on this industry and attracting new business while growing our local companies is crucial if we want to continue building a vibrant knowledge-based economy."

"The booming digital sector provides meaningful employment and fosters a growing creative cluster in Nova Scotia," said Jonny Stevens, executive director, Halifax Pop Explosion. "We've expanded our successful music event and added an interactive conference, HPX Digital, to showcase the exciting and innovative things happening within the technology sector in Nova Scotia."

Frontier Developments founder David Braben will speak at the conference. Mr. Braben is an iconic figure in the videogame industry, an angel investor and a passionate advocate in the field of computer science education. He is co-founder and trustee of the Raspberry Pi charitable foundation which works to revolutionize computer science education through their $25 computer.

Frontier Developments works with top publishers to develop high quality, innovative games of different genres across all major gaming formats. The company strives to make games that will put both Frontier Developments and the games industry itself at the forefront of the world entertainment industry. For more information, visit www.frontier.co.uk and follow @frontierdev on Twitter.

The Halifax Pop Explosion is a five-day music, media, culture, and technology festival that takes place annually during the third week of October in Halifax. For more information about events and venues, visit www.halifaxpopexplosion.com .

Nova Scotia Business Inc. is the province's private-sector-led business development agency. Through trade development, investment attraction, business financing and venture capital, NSBI assists local companies and attracts international companies to Nova Scotia. For more information, visit www.nsbi.ca and follow online at www.nsbi.ca/connect .