Virtuos

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Virtuos Ltd

Type	Private
Industry	Digital entertainment
Founded	December 2004
Headquarters	Singapore
Number of locations	12 offices (2018)
Key people	Gilles Langourieux (CEO) Andrey Supryaga (managing director, art division) Christophe Gandon (managing director, games division) Elijah Freeman (vice-president, games division) [1]
Number of employees	2000+[2]
Subsidiaries	Sparx* (2011) Black Shamrock (2017) Counterpunch Studios (2020)

Virtuos Holdings Pte. Ltd. is a multinational video game developer and a provider of digital entertainment production services for the game and movie industries, founded in 2004. Virtuos has its headquarters and R&D center in Singapore as well as seven development centers located in Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi'an, Ho Chi Minh City, Paris and in Dublin. Virtuos has offices also in Vancouver, San Francisco, Montreal, Tokyo and Seoul.

With over 2,000 full-time workers, Virtuos specializes in game development and AAA art production for console, PC and VR titles. As a video game developer, Virtuos provides art asset creation^{[clarification needed]}, engineering, co-development and game adaptations.^[3] Virtuos is a licensed developer on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Virtuos' clients include 18 of the top 20 digital entertainment publishers.^[4] Its clients include Activision, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, Microsoft, Sony, Square Enix, Ubisoft and Zynga.

In September 2011, Virtuos acquired Sparx* Animation Studio. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, it then became the group's new development center dedicated to 3D animation, and digital production for feature films, TV series, and game cinematics.^[5] In March 2018, Virtuos has announced the successful completion of a USD 15 million funding round, plus the set-up of a new headquarters and R&D center in Singapore.

In October 2020, Virtuos acquired Counterpunch Studios, active in facial and body modelling, rigging, look development and animation. Virtuos also saw the inauguration of a new concept art studio in Montreal in the same month, with the goal of expanding further into the North American market.

Games co-developed by Virtuos[]

History of Virtuos[]

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• December 2004: Virtuos is established in Shanghai, China
• July 2005: Virtuos opens its European office in Paris: Gamesource
• June 2006: Virtuos receives investment from Legend Capital^[6]
• November 2006: Virtuos opens its North-American office in Los Angeles
• January 2008: Virtuos opens in Chengdu^[7]
• March 2009: Virtuos acquires BSP Audio Production Studios^[8]
• May 2009: Terminator Salvation is released in theaters, featuring 3D art made by Virtuos
• December 2009: Virtuos enters Japan, signing partnership with Kyos
• March 2010: Virtuos reaches 500 employees^[9]
• March 2010: Virtuos announces new-gen work-for-hire game development^[10][11]
• May 2010: Virtuos ported The Price is Right to the PSN
• November 2010: Virtuos produces Monster Jam: Path of Destruction for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, NDS and PSP
• August 2011: Virtuos reaches 800 Staff, and signs work-for-hire online game development agreement with Tencent
• September 2011: Virtuos acquires Sparx* 3D animation studio
• March 2012: Virtuos 900th employee is hired in Saigon for Sparx subsidiary.
• July 2012: Virtuos releases first fully developed Facebook game The Enchanted Library for GSN
• October 2012: Virtuos 1000th employee is hired.
• November 2012: Virtuos first Android game NBA 2013 released for client 2K Sports on Wii, NDS and PSP
• June 2013: Virtuos opens office in San Francisco
• October 2013: XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Virtuos developed the port from X360 to iOs of Enemy Unknown and 2K Games wins the 2013 Golden Joystick Award for best Mobile/Tablet Game of the Year
• December 2013: Virtuos developed Fangs Dash releases for China Mobile Game Entertainment on Chinese appstores^[12]
• April 2014: Virtuos developed the adaptation of FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD for PS3 and PS Vita with 85% Metacritic score^[13]
• July 2016: Batman: Return to Arkham. Virtuos ported the game from Xbox360 and PS3 to Xbox One and PS4
• March 2018: Virtuos raises $15M and sets up new HQ and R&D center in Singapore
• October 2020: Virtuos acquires Counterpunch Studios

Outsourcing controversy[]

As a prominent game outsourcing company, Virtuos has occasionally found itself at the center of the debate about outsourcing’s impact on game-industry jobs in the west. When asked about the issue by gaming industry website Gamasutra in 2006, Gilles Langourieux, the CEO of Virtuos pointed to the extra number of man-months required to produce titles on new-gen platforms and the larger number of platforms to cover as the main reasons for the rise of outsourced production, stating that he "doesn't think it's a disservice to the industry in the West."^[14]

References[]

External links[]

• Interview with Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux
• 2011 feature story on Virtuos by Gamasutra