Tokyo-based Gumi, known for developing the Japanese mobile gaming hit Brave Frontier, has opened up a studio in Canada to build games for the North American market.
The studio, which is based Burnaby, British Columbia, will be overseen by former Xbox exec AJ Redmer, who is the company’s VP of Western Studios.
While at Microsoft, Redmer held mutiple positions. In the early days, he worked with Robbie Bach on the development of the Xbox 360, and later, ran the studio responsible for developing Forza Motorsport. Redmer’s career has also included stints at Nintendo and WildTangent.
A company spokesman said Gumi plans to hire 25 to 30 people in Burnaby. The employees will be tasked with developing first-party games intended for the North American market.
In addition to Remer, Gumi has also hired former Capcom senior producer Chris Rowe, who will be leading the Vancouver development team and studio as Executive Producer.
While Gumi may not a household name in the U.S., the seven-year-old game company has distributed more than 40 game titles. It is best known for the hit Brave Frontier, which became one of the top-grossing games in Japan. Gumi also has offices in Austin, Texas, Stockholm and Kiev, Ukraine.
