Virtuos, one of the world's largest game development outsourcing providers, announced that it has opened a new development center in Chengdu. Located in Western China, Chengdu is the fourth largest city in the country, with a strong reputation as an academic center for Art and Engineering.
Virtuos Chengdu was officially inaugurated on Jan. 14 2008, in the presence of Senior Chengdu Government representatives and Jacques Dumasy, French Consul General. During the ceremony, Liu Bing, Deputy Governor, Member of the standing committee and Gilles Langourieux, CEO of Virtuos, signed an agreement between Virtuos and the Chengdu Government. The agreement will facilitate Virtuos' installation in Chengdu, while Virtuos will make long-term commitments to the development of the game industry in the city.
Liu Bing said, "The opening of a new game outsourcing center is another example of the role Chengdu is already playing in the Chinese high-tech services industry. In recent months we have developed strong ties with the international team leading Virtuos and we look forward to their success."
Virtuos Chengdu is already operational and has started servicing international clients in the 3D art and development areas. Its goal is to provide Virtuos with a larger pool of resources, which will allow the company to address growing demand from clients. The development center occupies an entire floor in a modern high-rise building located in downtown Chengdu. It enjoys the same state-of-the art-security and communication standards that have made Virtuos one of the most trusted names in game outsourcing. This prime location is also aimed at ensuring ease of access for clients and a superior work/quality-of-life balance for team members.
The current team in Virtuos Chengdu comprises experienced staff trained at Virtuos Shanghai, many of whom came from Chengdu and were happy to go back. In the last two years, Virtuos' HR has built strong ties with all major universities in the city, which now gives Virtuos a head start in recruiting strong talent. "We have the capacity to grow the new center to 100 staff in 2008 and above 300 in the next three years," said Langourieux.
Founded in December 2004 in Shanghai by a group of veteran game developers led by Langourieux, the former head of Ubisoft China, Virtuos specializes in providing game production services in 3D art, development and QA to international clients who are looking to increase their production capacity, while keeping costs under control. Its clients include eight of the top 10 game publishers in the world, as well as renowned developers. For more information, visit www.virtuosgames.com/.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
