Former GTA executive to open game studio in Budapest

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Leslie Benzies, the former president of gaming firm Rockstar – and developer of Grand Theft Auto – is opening a game studio in Budapest, alongside others in Edinburgh and Los Angeles, as a first step in executing his plans of building a news studio empire, according to reports. Three positions are being offered in the Hungarian capital.

The Budapest studio will be led by Kristoffer Waardahl, the former head of Crytek Hungary, and already has a number of veteran developers on staff with triple-A, mobile and VR experience, professional website gamesindustry.biz has reported.

Although not many details have been published about Benzies’ so-called “Everywhere project”, the former GTA exec describes it as “platform where players can be entertained, and also entertain others while blurring the lines between reality and a simulated world”.

Waardahl, who has spent a decade in video games, told GamesIndustry.biz: “To develop and build a beautiful open world game is one of our core passions and it resonates deeply with the team. When we heard Leslieʼs vision for the game, we jumped at the opportunity to join Everywhere and are delighted to be part of the core team bringing the game alive.”

The three open positions in Budapest are for an environment artist, engine programmer, and game programmer. The open positions can be seen here.

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