According to a new official blog, Amazon Games has announced it is opening a development studio in Bucharest, Romania, which marks its first expansion into Europe.
Previously, Amazon Games already had studios in Montreal, San Diego, Orange County, and Seattle.
VP of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann said the Bucharest studio was a “natural next step for us as we tackle our broad portfolio.” The new dev studio will support Amazon Games’ portfolio “now and in the future.”
Cristian Pana, known for their prior work as Managing Director at Ubisoft Bucharest, will lead the Amazon Games Bucharest studio. Pana’s experience extends to titles like Far Cry and The Division. Today, Pana said that Amazon Games “is actively building across an exciting roadmap.”
The new studio in Europe follows Amazon Games layoffs reported in November 2023. New studios are always welcome as the industry faces consistent layoffs. Just yesterday, Larian also announced it is opening a new studio in Warsaw.
Amazon Games’ new Bucharest studio will likely support titles such as the anticipated Tomb Raider project and the Lord of the Rings MMO.
Last year, Hartmann said that “bringing players a fresh take on The Lord of the Rings has long been an aspiration for our team.” They added that the team plans to “do justice to the expansive Middle-earth universe.”
Today’s blog also mentioned “unannounced projects from our San Diego and Montreal studios.”
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