It seems to have been a busy few weeks for People Can Fly. Of course, Outriders released on April 1, but several more announcements also followed. Near the end of April, it was revealed that the company had taken over Phosphor Games, converting it into People Can Fly Chicago. It's not an acquisition in terms of taking over the entity, but signed-employment offers with each of the ex-Phosphor Games team members instead. At the same time, it did officially acquire Game On, a studio known for its motion capture services, audio production, and animation.

Game Rant recently spoke with People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski about PCF Chicago, Game On, and far more. In terms of People Can Fly Chicago specifically, though, Wojciechowski discussed motivations behind taking over Phosphor Games, growth for People Can Fly Chicago and as a global brand, and how the new studio roughly sits in the current structure.

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One contributing factor of the acquisition was Phosphor Games' experience with Unreal Engine technology. Phosphor used to work with Epic Games, as did People Can Fly, so the company knew that the Phosphor was "talented and experienced." When asked about the immediate plans for People Can Fly Chicago, Wojciechowski had this to say,

"People Can Fly Chicago is focusing on collaborating with our other teams on our existing games, so this is the immediate plan for them. I think it is important to always have this kind of ramp-up time to learn new workflows and pipelines and making sure that we are working together well."

people can fly ceo

For obvious reasons, Wojciechowski wouldn't comment on any specific plans for Chicago or what it particularly will be working on, but it's worth noting this level of cooperation is the norm for People Can Fly as well. Chicago is the seventh studio overall and the third in North America, joining New York and Montreal in that regard. The European studios (Warsaw, Rzeszow, Lodz, and Newcastle) collaborate on their own projects as well. In terms of what these People Can Fly studios are broadly working on, aside from ongoing Outriders updates, there are two major projects. The North American studios are working on Project Dagger, an action game collaborated on with Take-Two Interactive. At the same, per Wojciechowski,

"Gemini is another project with Square Enix, and we are working on it from our Warsaw Studio. But all the other European studios are involved."

Nothing is set in stone, of course, but that division and structure is what's in the works right now. Wojciechowski did mention that, "going forward, that might change in terms of what the Chicago team will be working on." After all, the very existence of the Chicago team comes in terms of wider growth for People Can Fly, but it's growth for that studio as well. People Can Fly intends to grow the Chicago studio, which is currently 18 members strong, citing that "Phosphor used to be much bigger, and that's our benchmark...this is just the beginning for this studio."

Every People Can Fly studio, "especially in North America," is set for this growth, with Wojciechowski believing the sky is the limit. As a global brand, People Can Fly is working on AAA games, shooters, and action games utilizing Unreal Engine technology. It, of course, works with publishers like Square Enix and Take-Two Interactive to accomplish this, with Outriders/Project Gemini collaborated on by Square Enix and Project Dagger with Take-Two Interactive, but People Can Fly looks to self-publish one day too. "We want to blend the model of working with publishers with working on our own games in a self-publishing model. That's a global goal for People Can Fly."

Outriders is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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