Beenox, Inc., a subsidiary of Activision, expects to triple its workforce over the next two years, creating more than 200 new positions in the Quebec area by 2009.

The company, which over the past year and a half has more than doubled its staff, will focus its efforts on developing games for the next-generation consoles. The studio will be creating games based on Activision's largest licensed properties including movie-based games and super hero titles.

Additionally, Activision announced that Beenox will begin a pilot quality assurance programme in Quebec City over its Summer. Beenox will begin testing a limited number of Activision's Nintendo DS and PC games and expects to expand into additional console platforms over the next two years.

Beenox will begin its recruitment activities for both of these initiatives immediately via the company's website, beenox.com.

"Activision is making a significant investment in Beenox and the Quebec region, which is one of the fastest growing talent pools in North America," said Robin Kaminsky, executive vice president of Activision Publishing. "Beenox has consistently delivered high-quality titles and we are confident in their ability to continue creating great games in the coming years."

"I am very excited about the opportunity to strengthen and grow Beenox's infrastructure, which is a testament to the incredible work of our team," said Dee Brown, President of Beenox. "Activision's investment will allow us to greatly expand our development capabilities and work on some of the best projects in the game industry."

Founded in 2000, in 2006 the studio was honoured with the Enterprise of the Year award at the 23rd edition of the Fideides Awards, organised by the Quebec Business Council.