Activision building out Bay Area studio

Guitar Hero publisher seeks to fill some 20 jobs for "successful owned IP" at San Mateo, California, dev house.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a number of game-development companies, but perhaps the most dominant force in the area is Electronic Arts. The publishing powerhouse maintains its headquarters in Redwood City, California, some 20 miles south of San Francisco proper. The site also plays home to some of EA's more prominent developers, such as Dead Space creator Visceral Games.

Soon, EA will find itself facing off against some increased competition in the Bay Area. As indicated by a series of job postings to industry site Gamasutra, Activision Blizzard is in the process of extensively building out a development studio in San Mateo, California. Currently operating under the label Activision - Bay Area, the studio is currently working on "a soon to be announced project based on a successful Activision owned IP," according to the job listing.

Activision appears to be starting from scratch with the studio, as open job reqs at Activision - Bay Area range from creative director and executive producer to level designer and lighter. In all, Activision is currently seeking to fill 20 positions at the studio, and it was unclear if operations have already begun at the Bay Area studio. Activision had not responded to requests for comment on the studio's status as of press time.

Aside from stating that the studio is at work on an owned franchise, not much information can be gleaned from the job listings. Technical positions appear to indicate that the in-development project will be for consoles, with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii specifically mentioned. Of note, the aforementioned executive producer listing indicates that the studio may be at work on up to four multiplatform projects.

Activision already maintains a number of other development studios in the Bay Area. RedOctane, of Guitar Hero fame, is located in Sunnyvale, California, with Toys for Bob, Underground Development, and Shaba taking position in various locations along the peninsula. According to another job listing, San Francisco-based Shaba is working on a new music game for Activision.

29 Comments

  • bannermanner

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 9:29 am PT

    @ sun_rider 95

    I disagree with that sentiment, and I suspect many other hardcore gamers would be inclined to do the same.

    While it's true that EA was once the token evil corporation in the gaming industry, it's becoming increasingly clear that EA is trying to shed that title. Activision, on the other hand, seems all too eager to claim it.

    As a gamer who once really didn't like EA (and still never really gets into the sports games), I think it's nice to see them finally taking some creative risks that are good for both the industry and gamers. Was anyone else disappointed last year when Activision cut the best-looking stuff out of the Vivendi lineup last year? I'm talking stuff like Brutal Legend, Riddick, and World in Conflict. Was anyone pissed when the reason for that was revealed? (They couldn't run it into the ground like they are doing with the GH franchise).

    If EA starts doing what Activision is doing, I hope those wishes come true. However, if EA continues to do what they are doing, I hope they crush Activision.

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 3:48 am PT

    nice to see them expand.. its a sign of growth.. NOW DITCH BLIZZARD ACTIVISION STAT !

  • Halcalix

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 3:35 am PT

    Erm... Yay... I guess I really dont know what to say...

  • sun_rider95

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 3:26 am PT

    yeah hope ea will lose some money and maybe they will learn a lesson.....what comes around goes around

  • chaisemon

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 2:57 am PT

    wuhoo.. more games for us and more jobs for them.. everybody is happy

  • darknferno12

    Posted Jul 21, 2009 12:29 am PT

    cool, now If I only had a degree in video games

  • king_chapeton15

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 6:36 pm PT

    san mateo? i used to live nearby their in a city called sunnyvale for 15 years

  • NICKKELANIUS

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 4:39 pm PT

    i hate both activision and ea so i dont know what to say

  • brian_13un

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 4:27 pm PT

    Great

  • rohail88 posted Jul 20, 2009 1:42 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    rohail88

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 1:42 pm PT (hide)

    I bet activisions really feeling stupid after their bluff at SONY backfired!!

  • ever06

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 1:20 pm PT

    Man screw Cali bring some more damn companies to IL man like downtown chicago. There isn't crap here now EA chicago, closed, Midway gone, but now WB games Chicago, then there's a few more places like HVS, Volition and Robomodo. It'll be nice to see more like back in the day when Chicago had Bungie and treyarch etc...

  • TheArcade

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 1:15 pm PT

    Great news for people seeking a job in the gaming industry. It's about time we heard some positive news of people given opportunities to find jobs instead of losing them.

  • Melty123

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 1:11 pm PT

    These are really good news, some jobs for people and some games for gamers.

  • StephenBassford

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 1:10 pm PT

    People in Chicago that just got layed off, start packing and head to Cali!

  • rock_solid

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:58 pm PT

    bring down EA plz

  • namelessfire

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:34 pm PT

    good i wish i could have my degree by now so i can get a job at blizzard. oh well lucky for the guys who can get it lol

  • 20darkspirit

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:11 pm PT

    good

  • Regisland

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:09 pm PT

    finally a news were companys didnt lose 15% of their employees lol

  • mackey12345

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:08 pm PT

    Instead of searching for 20 new employee's, you could bring back some of the studios you sacked before, that would make everyone happy.

  • 12345678ew

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:54 am PT

    damonkey what are you talking about that would rock. activision taking a hit? they should be gone

  • Azwethinkweiz89

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:53 am PT

    Hope this is a sign that more game developers will open more studios instead of closing them.

  • FadeToBlack90

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:43 am PT

    This is the best news that I have seen on this site in a while, considering, it seems like every week or so there is an article about people loosing jobs.

  • Cwagmire21

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:41 am PT

    Nice to finally here a story about people soon to be hired than losing their jobs.

  • NuKkU

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:34 am PT

    Thats awesome for people out of a job man

  • SFG_basic

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:28 am PT

    That's awesome! We need some more jobs here in The Bay. Plus, I would love to do some playtesting for them, along with EA and Capcom.

  • tremor33

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 11:25 am PT

    Activision is Ghostridin them games. Doors open man, Doors open.

  • damonkeypirate

    Posted Jul 20, 2009 10:44 am PT

    I hope they aren't planning on hiring 20 new people and when their next game (GH5) doesn't meet some crazy high expected sales goal they let go of 60 people...That would suck!...but will probably happen.

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