Wasteland 2 Dev Opening New Orleans Office, Will Pay $75,000 Salaries

Role-playing game developer inXile Entertainment has announced plans to open a new office in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Wasteland 2 and Torment developer's new studio plans to hire 50 employees over the next five years, paying an average salary of $75,000 in addition to benefits.

inXile's main office is in Newport Beach, California. The formation of this new office represents the company's first expansion outside of California.

Louisiana mayor Bobby Jindal said, "With each new digital media investment, New Orleans is becoming a brighter beacon in the tech sector."

In his own statement, inXile founder Brian Fargo said: "Every year, colleges and universities in Louisiana graduate qualified candidates that would love nothing more than to work in the games industry. We are proud to be a part of a movement to keep those talented people in Louisiana."

New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu added: "We are proud to welcome inXile Entertainment to New Orleans. Digital media has become a major growth industry for our local economy, and that is why we are seeing companies like inXile choose to do business here."

Discussions between inXile and the city of New Orleans began in June 2015. To help bring inXile to the city, the state offered an incentive package that included a $10,000 relocation expenses payment, access to New Orleans' "FastStart job-training program," and other local incentives provided by the state.

According to NOLA.com, the new inXile office on Oak Street measures 3,900 square feet. The building itself (see some images here) is still undergoing renovations but should be open by December.

inXile's latest project is The Bard's Tale IV, which, like Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, was funded on Kickstarter.

Other video game companies with offices in New Orleans include High Voltage Software and Gameloft. The upcoming crime game, Mafia III, is set in New Orleans in the 1960s.