Edmonton-based BioWare is doubling the number of employees at its Montreal offices, with the ultimate goal of creating an autonomous studio that will design its own video games.

A screen shot from Mass Effect 2, which video game website IGN has named the best Xbox 360 release yet.

The Montreal office this week announced that it will double in size to 55 employees this year, from 27 last year. The office opened in 2009 to assist in the creation of Mass Effect 2, the hit science-fiction role-playing game released by BioWare in January.

Montreal employees helped design cinematics and side missions for the title, which video game site IGN recently named the best Xbox 360 game ever. The studio will now have a larger role in creating Mass Effect 3, which does not yet have a release date.

"Now that we've proven ourselves and shown that we can be successful, we're taking the next step," Montreal studio director Yanick Roy said. "We're also doubling our contribution to whatever happens next in the Mass Effect franchise."

The Montreal studio has already added eight employees over the summer, and the remaining 20 new hires will comprise programmers, designers and artists. BioWare is looking for more senior people, Roy said, as they will form the core of a studio that will ultimately employ about 150 people.

Roy said he hopes to get to that level in two to three years, which would allow the Montreal operation to create its own games. BioWare currently has about 350 employees in Edmonton, who work on two franchises: Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

The company also has a studio in Austin, Texas, which is currently developing the Star Wars: The Old Republic online role-playing game, as well as an operation in Fairfax, Va. That studio, Mythic Entertainment, was acquired by BioWare in 2009 and renamed BioWare Mythic earlier this year.

Creative control

BioWare was acquired by Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts in 2007, but has continued to operate as a company within a company, Roy said. While EA is ultimately in charge, BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk still have creative control over the company.

"If we look at our paychecks, it still says EA on them. But from the beginning, EA has been very respectful of BioWare's culture and our approach to making games," Roy said. "It's not about them changing BioWare. It's about them hoping that BioWare influences" EA.

Roy said that when the Montreal studio reaches its optimal size, it will look at the possibility of developing its own franchises.

"We're leaving all of these doors open. We'll react to whatever makes most sense at the time."

Montreal is battling with Vancouver for the title of Canada's video game capital. The city employs about 4,400 people in video game design, second only to Vancouver's 5,800. The city's biggest studio belongs to France's Ubisoft, which employs about 1,800.

Montreal is also home to several other major international studios, including EA and Eidos Interactive. Warner Bros. and THQ are also both opening operations in the city this year.