Warner Montreal drops triple-A development for casual and mobile

Warner's Montreal Studio is changing direction, and will no long be making triple-A titles at the development branch, but will be creating social and mobile games instead.

Speaking with French-Canadian paper Lapresseaffaires, studio head Martin Carrier said the shift is due to the current boon in the casual and mobile markets.

"Before, we perceived the market as a secondary market, but today is a growing market with the democratization of video games," said Carrier. "Commercially, we believe we can sell more than games on a grand scale."

While the shift in focus has the studio looking to hire an additional 300 employees by 2015, the current employees - which numbers 26 - is, according to the report, "not too thrilled" over the switch with several threatening resignation.

According to the paper, Montreal's working on downloadable titles and an unnamed Free-to-play MMO which will be "lighter" and "accessible to a younger audience.”

"When it is free, the game is profitable by micro-transactions," said Carrier. "Players can buy items within the game sooner so that they can finish the game faster.”

The company has found success with free-to-play MMOs recently, thanks to its April acquisition of Turbine, which created DDO and LOTRO.

Warner also plans to open a new studio in Quebec by the end of the year, as well as the possibility of releasing adventure games starring Batman, Superman and other heroes in the DC Comics family on Facebook.

Thanks, GameDaily.