Climax announced today plans to expand its Los Angeles studio. The ambitious project will see the LA office relocate to larger premises and recruit new staff – a move that reaffirms Climax's commitment to creating a world-class development studio.

Based in Santa Monica, California – in the heart of the movie and video game industries – the new 16,000sq ft office that is to become the studio's new home represents the first phase in Climax's major U.S. expansion.

The second phase, the employment of 80 new staff hand-picked from the cream of America's video game development community, will consolidate its fast-growing reputation as one of the country's leading independent game studios.

The announcement to expand the U.S. operation comes shortly after the launch of its first game, Tron 2.0 Killer Application on Xbox. Developed for Buena Vista Games, Tron 2.0 Killer Application's release in the U.S. has been heralded by fantastic reviews and highlights the calibre of game the LA studio is capable of producing.

David Schwartz, President of the LA Studio, is confident that enlarging the U.S. office will allow it to follow-up this phenomenal success with even more outstanding games for both the current and future Xbox and PlayStation consoles. "The expansion is crucial to the studio's on-going development," he confessed. "By moving to larger premises and hiring additional staff we can deliver cutting-edge action adventure games for all the major platforms. We're particularly excited by the opportunities this move gives us to create the next generation of hit games for Xbox 2 and PlayStation 3. We're working closely with SCEA on a high profile title for 2005 too, and this exciting move will allow us to explore other opportunities to work with some of the industry's biggest names"