Mobile game developer TinyCo opening Vancouver studio

Another leading developer of mobile games has selected Vancouver for a new studio. San Francisco-based TinyCo made the announcement today (August 13).

The developer and publisher of Tiny-branded games such as Tiny Monsters and Tiny Village, TinyCo cofounder Suli Ali told the Straight that the plan is to open the new office in early September. Three software engineers have already been hired to help set up the new studio, and the company is actively seeking new employees.

On the phone from his office in San Francisco, Ali said that Vancouver was selected over Austin as the location. "Vancouver has this real depth of talent in gaming," he explained, adding that the Vancouver being in the same time zone was a factor in the decision.

"Building games requires such deep collaboration among such different disciplines," he explained. "They all think about the world so differently and it's the magic of them working together that produces the best games."

The Vancouver operation won't be entirely autonomous at first, Ali said, but will be eventually. "We'll give them our technology infrastructure," said Ali, "and we'll be sending people from here to Vancouver to help set things up."