Avalanche Studios to open new office in Montreal

The Just Cause developer's new location will be staffed by a number of developers from its recent acquisition of the Montreal-based Monster Closet studio.

Avalanche Studios Group is opening a fifth office location in its global network, this time in Montreal, Canada. The studio behind Just Cause and the upcoming Contraband announced its latest office opening this week, following the acquisition of another Montreal-based group known as Monster Closet. The Monster Closet staff have been integrated into Avalanche and will man the new Montreal office as it opens its doors in the near future.

Avalanche Studios announced the new Montreal office in a press release on the company’s website this week. Avalanche Studios Montreal will be the fifth studio in the company, joining offices in Stockholm, New York City, Malmö, and Liverpool in creating games and apps. It also comes out of Avalanche’s recent acquisition of the Montreal-based Monster Closet studio, which was formed in 2021 by industry veterans who had worked around various major developers on franchises like Prince of Persia, Halo Wars, Far Cry, and many more.

Avalanche Studios Group Montreal office opening tweet
Avalanche Studios opened its new Montreal office with devs from the recently-acquired Monster Closet, including former CEO Graeme Jennings, who will now lead Avalanche Montreal.
Source: Avalanche Studios Group

Monster Closet’s acquisition opened the way for Avalanche to launch its Montreal location in support of its major current and future projects. One of Avalanche Studio Groups main efforts right now is Contraband, which was announced in 2021 and is being published by Xbox Game Studios. Contraband breaks away from Avalanche’s popular Just Cause series to offer a “co-op smuggler’s paradise” in which players take on heists in a 1970s tropical setting with an emphasis on vehicle combat.

With Avalanche Montreal officially opening up, Avalanche brings some major talent under its wing. Stay tuned as we await further details on Avalanche projects like Contraband and more.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
Hello, Meet Lola