Behaviour Interactive Inc. is a Canadian video game developer and publisher.
They published the video game Dead by Daylight and subsequently released DLC, which used characters from the Saw franchise.
History[]
Foundation[]
The company was founded in 1992 in Quebec City as Megatoon. Two years later, the current CEO and executive producer, Rémi Racine, co-founded Multimedia Interactive in Montreal to develop interactive entertainment software for CD-ROM. Both companies were sold to Malofilm Communications in 1996, and a year later, they were merged into Behaviour Interactive with Racine as general manager. In 1997, the studio released Jersey Devil on PlayStation and later on Windows platforms. The 3D platformer was the first console game made entirely in Quebec. Distributed by Sony, Jersey Devil caught the attention of Infogrames Entertainment, which approached Behaviour to produce Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time.
Artificial Mind & Movement[]
In 1999, Racine and some investors repurchased the studio but had to rename it, changing its name to Artificial Mind & Movement Inc. (A2M) the following year. As A2M, the studio continued its work-for-hire projects, producing titles for clients such as Konami, Sony Computer Entertainment, Ubisoft, Disney Interactive Studios, Nintendo, EA, and Activision. In November 2008, the company acquired Santiago-based Wanako Games from Activision Blizzard, the first and largest South American game studio. A2M kept its focus on producing original titles, including Scaler, Wet, and Naughty Bear. This last title had over 800,000 console-unit sales and laid the groundwork for the studio's 2016 original game Dead by Daylight.
On November 8, 2010, Artificial Mind & Movement announced that its name would be changed back to Behaviour Interactive. The change was partly due to the increased production of original titles and thus more substantial presence in the gaming community, partly due to the availability of the original name, and partly due to one particular obscene interpretation of the initialism "A2M."
Dead by Daylight[]
The studio has maintained its work-for-hire services while continuing to invest in original games. In 2016, Behaviour released Dead by Daylight, a multiplayer survival action horror game published by Sweden's Starbreeze. Dead by Daylight sold over 1 million copies in its first two months and had over 50 million players worldwide by 2022. In 2018, Behaviour purchased the game's publishing rights from Starbreeze for $16 million. In November 2023, Dead by Daylight surpassed the 60-million player milestone.
Expansion[]
In April 2022, Behaviour announced it would open a new office in Toronto. In May, it acquired the game development studio Midwinter Entertainment in Seattle. In the summer of 2022, Behaviour released Hooked on You, a dating sim spin-off from the Dead by Daylight franchise, and the melee brawler Flippin Misfits. Both games were revealed alongside Meet Your Maker at the first Behaviour Beyond showcase of new and upcoming releases broadcast in August 2022.
In February 2023, Behaviour acquired UK-based video game developer SockMonkey Studios, renaming it Behaviour UK - North. The following month, it was announced that a film based on Dead by Daylight was in development, with Blumhouse Productions, Atomic Monster, and Striker Entertainment serving as co-producers. In May 2023, Concordia University in Montreal announced the creation of a new Behaviour-funded research chair in video game design in its Department of Design and Computation Arts. Behaviour will provide $2 million in funding for the research chair over the next ten years.
In July 2023, Behaviour reported the opening of Behaviour UK - South, a new studio in Truro, Cornwall. In August 2023, Behaviour acquired Netherlands-based video game developer Codeglue, renaming it Behaviour Rotterdam.
In January 2024, the company laid off 45 employees from its Montreal location, accounting for less than 3% of its workforce. In March 2024, they announced the acquisition of Fly Studio, an award-winning multimedia experience designer and producer from Montreal, to consolidate its position in the location-based entertainment market. According to its website, Immersive Entertainment replaced the studio's Business Solutions unit.
In April 2024, Behaviour announced its partnership with Scandinavian independent game developer Haenir Studio to create the action-horror co-op survival game Blight: Survival.
Behaviour Interactive reported the closure of Midwinter on September 18, 2024, and the cancellation of their Dead by Daylight spin-off codenamed Project T.
External Links[]
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Behaviour Interactive • IDW Publishing • Konami • Lions Gate Entertainment • Lionsgate Films • Twisted Pictures • Zombie Studios |
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