Virtuos expands with opening of first full-service studio in North America

Virtuos has continued its global expansion with the opening of Calypte, a new co-development studio in North America.

The work-for-hire company, which has worked on major franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed, said Calypte will be its first full-service studio in North America. The nascent outfit will cover all aspects of game production including art, design, and engineering.

According to Virtuos, Calypte will support flexible working -- which means staff will be encouraged to work from anywhere, be it their home, in-office, or a mix of both -- and has been established to help sate the "growing consumer demand for high-quality live content."

"Based in the Bay Area, Calypte’s proximity to a major game development hub enhances collaboration between Virtuos and its partners through stronger alignment on project requirements and shorter turnaround time," reads a press release. "Leveraging Virtuos’ established distributed development model, scale, and expertise, partners will be provided round-the-clock support to deliver bigger games in faster iterations."

Calypte will be led by studio director Kirsten Kennedy, who has previously worked on franchises including Sid Meier's Civilization and Grand Theft Auto during a near two-decade long career in development and publishing production.

The formation of Calypte is Virtuos' fourth expansion in 2022, with the company having already purchased Kyiv-based Volmi before acquiring Vietnam-based art studio Glass Egg and launching Virtuos Kuala Lumpur.

Those moves came after the company secured $150 million in funding in September 2021 to expand its existing studios and pursue acquisitions.