DC Studios Creates Government-Approved Irish Wing

Representatives from Canadian developer DC Studios have announced that the company is to create 50 new jobs in Dublin, with the support of IDA (Irish Development Agency) Ireland, forming a new development studio there. This marks Ireland’s first-ever overseas investment in console software development, with Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin commenting: "This investment is an excellent fit with IDA’s strategy of attracting knowledge intensive investments to Ireland. The digital media sector has been identified as an area of opportunity for this country and DC Studios, a young ambitious company, will be a valued addition to the growing cluster of digital media activities in Ireland, in particular games development." The role of IDA Ireland in the deal is typical of the attitude of many governments actively seeking to encourage foreign high-tech companies to set-up new offices, often with tax breaks and other operation-related incentives, most recently seen elsewhere in Ubisoft's expansion of its Montreal office with help from the governments of Quebec and Canada. Mark Greenshields, CEO of DC Studios has described Ireland as the ideal base to expand the company, citing the country’s "experienced pool of software skills and supportive business environment." The Dublin facility will soon become a full turnkey development centre employing designers, producers, artists and programmers for developing complete games from conception to production. DC Studios, established in 1999, employs nearly 80 people at its headquarters in Montreal, Canada and in satellite studios in Glasgow, Scotland and Bristol, England, and recently developed Rayman DS for Ubisoft, as well as helping create the Atari 2600 'TV game' software.