Keywords Studios is set to expand across Australia with two new studios, one based in the city of Brisbane and the other in Adelaide. The new spaces, named Tantalus North and Tantalus South, are set to act as an extension of Tantalus Melbourne and are focused on game development.

Keywords Studios acts as an international technical and creative service provider to the global games industry, with studios located across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia. On top of the investment in Tantalus Media, Keywords has previously established its presence in Australia with studio acquisitions such as Melbourne based indie studio Mighty Games and Wicked Witch.

The Australian games industry currently presents a massive dominance in Melbourne with 57% of the industry situated there, so these new studios will help to create employment and offer opportunities to workers across wider Australia.

Growing presence

Tom Davies, head of new studios integration at Keywords in Australia, commented on the company's growth saying “Keywords Studios’ presence in Australia has grown rapidly to five studios across three states, employing over 170 people. However, this is only the start. We are very excited about what our team has achieved already and look forward to an exciting future.”

Plans are currently in place to hire 30 more employees in Australia over the coming months and with help from the Victoria Government, Keywords is looking toward continued growth across the country.
Keywords also sponsored the opening night of Melbourne International Games Week and are sponsors of Games Connect Asia Pacific. The gaming industry in Australia has ambitions to grow and become more prominent in the future, and these steps from Keywords fit with those long-term goals.

Keywords is also looking at further acquisitions outside of Australia, as the Ireland-based company has recently made moves toward acquiring Smoking Gun Interactive.