LONG DISTANCE

While many corporations have stated their intentions to set up new Montreal-based studios in 2021, it remains to be seen just how many of their employees will actually live in the city. The pandemic has fundamentally changed triple-A’s perspective on remote working – and in the long-term this paradigm shift might make a mockery of the geographically rooted big-budget studio. October saw the announcement of Possibility Space, the new company from Undead Labs founder Jeff Strain. Its enviable dev roster, including Half-Life: Alyx’s Jane Ng and Watch Dogs: Legion’s Liz England, is surely made possible by its deeply 2021 approach to online collaboration. Though technically based in New Orleans, Possibility Space employees are free to work from wherever they choose. Local sandwich shops won’t be thanking them for the flexibility.