Cover art from the game's recent release.

EB Games Australia

An outbreak of guerrilla fighting on Mars is good business for Quantum Signal.

The Ann Arbor-based video imaging software company recently completed development work for the PC version of the popular video game “Red Faction: Guerrilla,” which allows gamers to wage a war on the Red Planet.

The longer the Martian war continues, the greater the benefit to Ann Arbor's software community.

Quantum Signal’s Reactor Zero division completed coding work to translate the Xbox version of the Volition-created game into a PC format, which was released Sept. 15. It was the first major video game title release for Reactor Zero, the four-year-old division of the 10-year-old company.

Stroll through Quantum Signal’s offices on Plaza Drive and you’ll see software engineers testing robots and gamers playing video games.

But you won’t see the classified material that makes 10-year-old Quantum Signal so critical to the U.S. military.

Quantum Signal recently started four Phase 2 projects on behalf of the Pentagon, which provided $2.9 million for the work. The projects, funded by the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, involve a variety of imaging technologies.

Video games and military technology don’t seem to mesh, but similarities abound.

Video imaging is one of the greatest challenges of the software industry. Giving human-like vision to explosives-hunting robots is a monumental challenge. That’s why robots typically have to be manually controlled by a soldier in the battlefield.

Video imaging, however, is just software. That’s why Quantum Signal has video gaming and defense technology divisions.

The company, which has some 25 employees, is hiring for about 10 positions. But don’t expect those jobs to fill up immediately. The company is seeking programmers and eventually designers and game artists.

“We’re very particular. We hire very slowly and it takes us a long time to find people,” said Matthew Toschlog, president of Quantum Signal’s Reactor Zero division.

It’s not a matter of preference but simply a response to the sheet volume of interest expressed in the company. The firm typically receives hundreds of resumes for each software opening.

Can’t blame those applicants. Mars needs help.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at nathanbomey@annarbor.com or (734) 623-2587 or follow him on Twitter.