The Village of Cumberland is no booming metropolis, however, that doesn鈥檛 hinder small businesses from succeeding.
Hinterland is a prime example.
Hinterland is an independent game studio located on Dunsmuir Avenue.
The company鈥檚 upcoming game, The Long Dark, has already received international attention.
The Hinterland team has been working on The Long
Dark since the busi- ness launched in Feb. 2013, and is nearing the finishing stages of the game. The game was featured on the crowd- funding website Kick- starter. With an original goal of $200,000, The Long Dark successful- ly captivated people鈥檚 interest, generating $256,000 from the site鈥檚 donors.
Founder and creative director of Hinterland, Raphael van Lierop, who lives in Cumber- land with his wife and two children, is excited.
鈥淲e looked at a lot of other towns and we picked Cumberland because it has a really interesting, creative spirit,鈥� van Lierop says.
Van Lierop, who has 13 years of game industry experience, moved from Vancouver, leaving his job at Relic Entertainment to try some- thing new.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason at all why peo- ple shouldn鈥檛 be able to decide where they live based on the quality of life and what鈥檚 right for their families first, and then figure out the work piece after,鈥� van Lierop says.
Van Lierop says that his choice to set up in Cumberland hasn鈥檛 stopped his team from expanding, adding that because he was tired of moving around for work, he wouldn鈥檛 ask others at Hinterland to do the same. 鈥淢y team is all over North Amer- ica. I鈥檝e got people in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Chi- cago, L.A. They鈥檙e all over the place, and we鈥檙e all able to work together because of all these tools that we have, and all of us are able to live where we want to live.鈥�
The Long Dark, which is set in a Canadian wilderness, is esthetically influenced by Cumberland鈥檚 land- scape and nature. Van Lierop adds that there鈥檚 a bit of humour found in the idea of a high-tech business being located in a place like Cumberland.
鈥淚鈥檒l admit, I really love the contrast: The idea of doing world-class work in the high-tech field in this tiny town of 3,500 people at the foot of the mountains. This
is the last place that people would expect for it to be possible.鈥�
Van Lierop, who travels inter- nationally every year, appreciates that Cumberland is an accessible location.
鈥淵ou have the benefit of being able to link up to big cities when you want to, but you also can retreat back here when you鈥檙e done.鈥�
Van Lierop believes that the Comox Valley is recognizing that high-tech businesses such as Hin- terland are becoming a large part of the future.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to see Hinterland become like an anchor business here.鈥�
For more information about Hinterland, visit www.hinterlandgames.com.
