The Gallant Reality Behind Digital Extremes
We recently got the chance to pay a visit to London, Ontario's largest game development studio, Digital Extremes. While there, we also got to have a chat with studio's president, Michael Schmalz about his views on expanding the Dark Sector universe and his aspirations for the company.
Digital Extremes is the studio behind last spring's Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 release, Dark Sector. Since then the title has sold nearly one million copies. More recently the studio partnered with 2K Games to assist in bringing the award-winning Xbox 360 game, Bioshock, to the Playstation 3. The studio itself can be found in one of London's few upscale high-rise office buildings, with quite an 18th floor view.
Alongside Dark Sector and Bioshock, Digital Extremes are also the co-creators, or rather co-masterminds, behind the Unreal series, the world-renowned series of first-person shooter video games. Partnering with Epic games, the studio that today brings Xbox 360 owners the Gears of War series, Digital Extreme's debuted the first Unreal in 1997. Since then the series has sold upward of 10 million copies.
Digital Extremes was original started by studio CEO, James Schmalz, on the University of Waterloo’s campus. The studio later moved to London and now employs a near 100 strong staff. Brother of James Schmalz, Michael Schmalz is Digital Extreme’s president:
Gaming Union: What are the staff and atmosphere like here at Digital Extremes?
Michael Schmalz: Well, I think we try to have a fairly open and collaborative type atmosphere. We do a lot of things to encourage people to get to know their peers and to work in teams. We provide lunches for everyone from Monday through Thursday so that people can eat on-site here and have a chance to relax and get to know some of their co-workers. So I would say that team work, getting to know each other and communicating is a big focus of what we are like as a company.
Gaming Union: With the success of Dark Sector, do you plan on expanding on the story or IP at all in the future?
Michael Schmalz: We have no plans right now.
Gaming Union: Is it something you would be interested in?
Michael Schmalz: We'll have to see. We have some other projects that are lined up. I'm not saying that there's no chance there will be, say, a Dark Sector follow-up, but right now we're focusing on other things.
Gaming Union: How does Digital Extremes go about finding new talent for the studio?
Michael Schmalz: It's difficult to find good talent. We essentially have a full-time [human resources] manager who’s primarily responsible for recruiting, and we look all over the world. We have people in our company from Japan and Indian and Korea and Asia, all over the world, South America. We will bring in the talent from where-ever. However, we do benefit from being in South Western Ontario and being located in close proximity to a lot of good colleges and universities that are turning out new graduates who are very capable to enter the video game industry.
Gaming Union: What goals do you and Digital Extremes have for the future of the company?
Michael Schmalz: I think we want to take over the world. [Laughs] No, seriously, I think our goal is still to make the very best video games that we can and I think to raise our profile within the industry, and within our community here as well.
Gaming Union: How do you plan to do that exactly?
Michael Schmalz: Well, I guess our plan is to keep making great video games. We have several video game projects that we're working on that will be unveiled shortly that we're extreme excited about.
Gaming Union: How well are the UWO and Fanshawe preparing students for working in the London industry?
Michael Schmalz: We have a number of people who work here that graduated from Western and Fanshawe. I would say, for those people who have identified a desire to get into this industry, that there are programs at both the local college and university here in London that can definitely prepare you for a career in the video game industry. So I would say that they are as good as any of the other places that we recruit out of.
Gaming Union: How do you see the London industry developing into the near future?
Michael Schmalz: It's hard to say, but I think there will always be demand for good games, so as long as the companies who are here can develop good games that can meet the needs of critical audiences, that they will continue to do well and to expand. Companies like ours and Big Blue Bubble, we've been around for a long time and we've got a proven ability to do that. So I would suggest that we're not going anywhere soon.
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