It’s obvious upon entering Trapdoor Inc.’s downtown studio the nascent independent game developer and publisher will not be your typical office. Sporting a kitchen stocked with every employee’s favourite grub and an adorable dog scurrying about, Trapdoor was conceptualized by game designers tired of massive, impersonal studios working on AAA blockbusters.

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For the 32-year-old Montreal native, now was the ideal time to spread his wings. In 2007, he left local studio Gameloft, where he served as manager for three years. With the rise in digital distribution game services—such as Microsoft’s XBox Live Arcade (XBLA) and Sony’s Playstation Network (PSN)—the financial model was there for a smaller budget game to make money. Trapdoor’s nine employees will be specializing in games with shorter development cycles (around 12 months) that can be downloaded directly onto consoles instead of being purchased at brick and mortar stores.

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