Virtuos sets up shop in Malaysia

pcgamesinsider.biz:

Singapore's Virtuos has established a brand new developer in Malaysia.

The firm has opened the doors to a new studio in Kuala Lumpur, though this has been in soft launch since early 2021. The venture is headed up by general manager Mufizal Mokhtar, a 20-year vet of the games industry who worked at Ubisoft Singapore between 2010 and 2018 on Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, Black Flag and Odyssey, as well as Skull and Bones. He then spent a year working at PUBG Corporation, ahead of stints at Sandbox VR and PlayStudios.

Virtuous Kuala Lumpur currently employs 90 people, including operations director Boon Yan Toh, production director Ian Ng Siong Yoong, senior lead artist Noorazhar Mohd Noor and technical art director Johaness Reuben.

“I am pleased to return home to build Virtuos Kuala Lumpur alongside some of my closest friends and pioneers in the industry,” Mufizal said.

“We are excited to play an active part in Malaysia’s game development industry and the growth of its digital ecosystem. Thanks to the support of the Malaysian Government and our global Virtuos network, we look forward to welcoming the best talent to our multicultural team and making games better, together.”

Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux added: “With the launch of Virtuos Kuala Lumpur, we are excited to contribute to Malaysia’s digitalization and growth as a regional game development hub. We have ambitions to grow our local headcount to 300 by the end of 2025, and become one of Malaysia’s top studios that deliver full-cycle game development expertise and quality projects for our partners worldwide.”

This is the latest step in Virtuos' expansion. Back in 2020, the firm bought Montreal's CounterPunch before setting up a Lyon studio in October