Amazon Opens new Bucharest Games Studio
– 2 min read
With a new studio founded in Bucharest, Amazon Games seeks to further its presence in Europe. Under the leadership of Ubisoft veteran Cristian Pana, Bucharest games will support Amazon's service games in all business phases.
With a new studio founding in Romania, Amazon seeks to further its European game development presence. Bucharest games, the new studio based in the capital of Romania, will be lead by industry veteran Cristian Pana. Pana has been part of Ubisoft for more than 20 years. During that time, he has overseen various stages of development for several popular AAA titles, including Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Driver San Francisco, Far Cry 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist, The Crew and Tom Clancy's The Division.
"My career started over 20 years ago as a game tester here in Bucharest," says Pana. "It was a complete departure from my job as a licensed auditor. I always wanted to work in the games industry. As a child and teenager, I dreamed of a job where I could earn money with games, and the job of a game tester was the closest thing to that dream. At the first opportunity that came my way, I immediately jumped into this wonderful, ever-changing entertainment industry. I've been enjoying my gaming career every day since."
The new studio supports Amazon Games’ in developing and publishing games service games. This includes two launched live-service games, New World and Lost Ark, announced projects including Tomb Raider, The Lord of the Rings, and Throne and Liberty, as well as unannounced projects from Amazon's San Diego and Montreal studios, and the independent studio Glowmade in the UK.
"I can remember many projects from different parts of my career, but if I had to choose the one I'm most proud of, it would be Tom Clancy's The Division," Pana elaborates further. "This is the game that I took over after the release of the first instalment, where I was responsible for developing the additional content for the first iteration of the game, while we also had to plan and assemble the team for the second iteration. The Division 2 is still going strong five years after its release and I'm delighted with the game's success. I still think it's one of the best productions we've worked on."
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Written by
Pascal Wagner is Chief of Relations of GamesMarket and Senior Editor specialised in indie studios, politics, funding and academic coverage.
