voodoo games

Mobile developer Voodoo expands with new Montreal studio

Mobile developer Voodoo has opened a new studio in Montreal, Canada in a bid to move “beyond hyper-casual” games. 

Though the company has, as yet, not formally revealed the news, an announcement was made via a LinkedIn page in which game lead Mehdi El Moussali confirmed they will be leading the new studio, and a number of new positions on Montreal have been advertised on Voodoo’s career pages.

“It makes me happy when I hear that a new game studio is opening or expanding, those are great news for our industry,” El Moussali said in the announcement. “So today, I am thrilled as I am opening Voodoo’s new studio in Montreal that will be focused on creating games beyond hyper-casual!”

Looking ahead, El Moussali said they were building “small, autonomous and talented teams” and was particularly looking for senior game artists, senior game designers, and senior game developers and encourages developers to get in touch if they’d like to “be part of this unique journey!”

Paris-based Voodoo was founded in 2013 by Alexandre Yazdi and Laurent Ritter, and focuses on free-to-play “hyper-casual games” for mobile devices. El Moussali brings mobile expertise from Hitman Go developer Square Enix Montreal, as well as several years experience producing games at Gameloft. Games released by Voodoo have, collectively, been downloaded over two billion times to date.

“What is very exciting at Voodoo is working in a highly creative environment, in which we strive to create products used everywhere in the world, combined with a rich technical and data-driven approach, thanks to which our products have the life they deserve,” explains CEO Alexandre Yazdi via the developer’s website.
Update: In a comment to MCV/Develop, Voodoo confirmed the new studio and provided the following statement from Montreal game lead, El Moussali said: “Montreal is an innovation hub with a diverse and highly skilled talent pool, which offers a great opportunity for Voodoo to continue to push boundaries in the world of mobile. I am excited to be part of one of the most progressive companies that exist right now. Voodoo offers team members the chance to run projects with autonomy, while supporting them to bring innovative ideas to mobile. We’ll be looking to explore new concepts and continue Voodoo’s reputation of launching platform defining games.”

About Vikki Blake

It took 15 years of civil service monotony for Vikki to crack and switch to writing about games. She has since become an experienced reporter and critic working with a number of specialist and mainstream outlets in both the UK and beyond, including Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, IGN, MTV, and Variety.

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