The press release published on the studio’s website explains that James Schmalz has just resigned from his position as CEO while remaining a member of the board of directors to continue to oversee the strategy of his 30-year-old baby. To take his place as CEO, arguably no one was better placed than veteran Steve Sinclair, creative director of Warframe who gave way to Rebecca Ford in July 2022 and whose new responsibilities will not prevent him from continuing to lead the development of the promising Soulframe alongside creative director Geoff Crookes.
The game that changed everything
First author of pinball games in the 90s, Digital Extremes then worked on the Unreal franchise with Epic Games between 1998 and 2004. Capable of doing something other than FPS, the studio made its mark in 2008 with Dark Sector before signing with 2K Games for The Darkness II in 2012. Games with relative success which forced the studio to make ports to sustain itself (BioShock on PS3, Homefront on PC).
But the turning point came in November 2013 when the studio accompanied the release of the PS4 with Warframe, free-to-play which would continue to evolve and make people happy to the point of exceeding 75 million registered players. In 2014, Digital Extremes attracted the attention of the Chinese Leyou, which itself would be absorbed by Tencent in 2020. Powerful owners who allowed the Canadian studio to maintain its creative autonomy while exceeding the 300-person milestone.
“ It’s been a long road from Epic Pinball to Soulframe. I feel immensely privileged to have been able to play my part in shaping our industry; building our exceptional team has been a fulfilling life’s work. I believe Steve is the ideal leader to usher us and our growing gaming community into a new era, and I look forward to seeing what can be accomplished under his leadership », comments James Schmalz.
“ I would like to join the rest of the team and our community in thanking James for all he has done. James said ‘yes’ to Warframe in 2012 and boldly committed to making it work, which changed the trajectory of our company. James believed – and continues to believe – in our team when no one else did, and created one of the most community and gamer-oriented studios in the world », adds Steve Sinclair.
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