Curse has announced that it is moving its operational team responsible for its voice over IP (VOIP) service, Curse Voice, to a new location. Members of that team will be moving to a new office located in Irvine, California.

Curse has a relationship with Hi-Rez Studios, providing official voice services for Smite. With the move to Irvine, the company will be located near a number of developers, including Blizzard and Obisidian.

This is also positioned close to Riot Games’ office in Los Angeles. Riot recently made a $30 million investment in Curse, but neither party has offered comment about the nature or purpose of the funding.

With the move comes executive promotions, with Michael Comperda becoming president and chief technology officer of Curse Voice and Donovan Duncan now president of Curse Media. Curse Media, which owns MMO tips site MMO-Champion, Wikia competitor Gamepedia, Minecraft and Diablo fan community sites, and sites dedicated to EA’s Sports Ultimate Team modes will remain in the company’s current location of Huntsville, Alabama.

Duncan tells us that this operational split is designed to help both segments of the business focus. “We're still friends, we still talk, and we will still work together when it makes sense, but structurally we want people working together on the same focuses, having that geographical split will help with that,” he says.

Comperda says that moving the Voice team to Irvine positions them closer to developers, with the company likely hoping to replicate its work with Hi-Rez Studios. “We really want to create focused work environments and a rich culture where our teams can achieve the greatest success,” Comperda says. “The Irvine location allows the Curse Voice team to be closer to key game developers, publishers and partners. he says.

Curse says that the move will begin later this year.

Our Take

Curse is looking to step up against big competitors, including TeamSpeak and Razer. Given that the software is free, partnership with developers and publishers are the way the company will need to monetize its efforts. A move to Irvine puts Curse within striking distance of Blizzard (Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm), Riot (League of Legends), Amazon Game Studios and Double Helix, and major publishers like EA and Activision.