Crystal Dynamics expands with new Washington studio Crystal Northwest

Crystal Dynamics, the California-based studio behind the Tomb Raider franchise and the upcoming Avengers Project has expanded with the creation of a new Bellevue, Washington satellite studio called Crystal Northwest, parent company Square Enix announced.

Here is an overview of the studio, via Square Enix:

The new studio in the Seattle area is officially up and running as of today, and is a full-fledged extension of Crystal Dynamics. Dedicated initially to technology development, it delivers even more expertise to the highly-anticipated Avengers Project. Led by 20-year industry veterans Chad Queen and James Loe, the new studio bolsters the development of future games, tools, and technology.

In addition to the new studio, Crystal Dynamics has added best-in-class development talent to its Redwood Shores, California headquarters. These new additions will strengthen the teams on both current and future projects.

Among the dozens of new hires are world-class developers like Vincent Napoli, the new Lead Combat Designer at Crystal Dynamics who was most recently on the latest God of War, plus Ben Wanat, an 18-year industry veteran and an original co-founder of the Dead Space franchise, who led the development of Dead Space 3 as Creative Director. Joining them is David Fifield, who sports 20 years of experience as Executive Producer and Design Director at 343 Industries on Halo, as well as Game Director at Raven Software on numerous Call of Duty titles. Crystal Dynamics continues to attract the best and the brightest talent across all disciplines, many recently hailing from the likes of Naughty Dog, Pixar, EA, and many more.

Find a pair of comments below.

Scot Amos, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics

“We’re aggressively scaling up our teams and adding a new studio with spectacular talent to deliver the ultimate gaming experiences for our players. We have assembled a team of industry veterans and leaders in order to create gaming experiences that surpass the expectations of our passionate community.”

Ron Rosenberg, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics

“Our new studio in Bellevue, and the new hires in Redwood Shores, represent our continued commitment to the most ambitious project we’ve ever created. We’ll keep building on the exciting growth Crystal Dynamics has experienced over the last several years, and are eager to deliver a world-class Avengers experience for fans around the world.”