Ubisoft Quebec

History

French video game publisher Ubisoft announced its plans to open a development studio in Quebec City in April 2005. The studio, Ubisoft Quebec, was formally opened on 27 June 2005. Its founders were Nicolas Rioux and Andrée Cossette, of whom Rioux was appointed as general manager. In June 2008, Ubisoft Quebec announced that it had established a computer-generated imagery production arm that would work in conjunction with distributor Guillemot. The unit was closed down again with the foundation of Ubisoft Motion Pictures in May 2011.

Longtail Studios's Quebec City development studio was acquired by Ubisoft in March 2010 and merged into Ubisoft Quebec. Forty-eight employees were transferred to Ubisoft Quebec, while another 6–7, including the acquired studio's manager, departed. In June 2013, François Pelland was appointed as Ubisoft Quebec's executive director of development. In September 2013, Ubisoft announced its intent to invest in Ubisoft Quebec over seven years to create up to 500 jobs. A first investment of in January 2014 opened 100 positions. Following onto another investment in July 2014, Ubisoft Quebec stated that it would move to new offices in the Saint-Roch neighbourhood of Quebec City and open another 100 positions.

When Rioux became "vice president of technology" for all of Ubisoft's Canadian studios in November 2017, Patrick Klaus was appointed Ubisoft Quebec's managing director, with Cossette as associate managing director. In December 2018, Mike Laidlaw joined the studio as creative director, having previously stepped down from the same position at BioWare, before departing again in February 2020. The Saint-Roch location, known as UbiNord, was opened in April 2019. Cossette succeeded Klaus as managing director in November 2019, after Klaus had left the studio earlier that year. Cossette left Ubisoft Quebec in July 2020.

Games developed

After developing expansion packs for Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Ubisoft Quebec became the first Ubisoft studio outside Ubisoft Montreal to lead the development of a mainline Assassin's Creed game. The studio's first Assassin's Creed game was Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which was released in October 2015, and continued with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, released in October 2018.

The studio ventured into mobile game development, collaborating with Ubisoft Montreal on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile for Android and iOS, announced on April 5, 2022. The title is the adapted version for mobile devices of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, a successful tactical shooter game belonging to the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series, which Ubisoft Montreal released in December 2015 for PC and consoles.

References

References

1. "Our Studio".
2. Maragos, Nich. (11 April 2005). "Gameloft, Ubisoft Open Quebec City Studios".
3. Gibson, Ellie. (12 April 2005). "Ubisoft announces plans for new Quebec studio".
4. Graft, Kris. (25 October 2018). "Crunch, work-life balance, and ''Assassin's Creed Odyssey'': A view from the top".
5. (27 November 2019). "Q&A With Andrée Cossette, Managing Director at Ubisoft Québec".
6. Takahashi, Dean. (25 November 2015). "How Ubisoft's Quebec City studio became the master of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate".
7. Martin, Matt. (2 June 2008). "Guillemot to transform Ubisoft with movie, TV and sports projects".
8. Jenkins, David. (3 May 2011). "Ubisoft confirms founding of Ubisoft Motion Pictures".
9. Ransom-Wiley, James. (3 November 2010). "Ubisoft Quebec adds a Longtail studio".
10. Williams, Mike. (4 June 2013). "Ubisoft Quebec appoints new executive director of development".
11. Hinkle, David. (6 May 2013). "Ubisoft Quebec City taps François Pelland as executive director".
12. Williams, Mike. (30 September 2013). "Ubisoft Quebec operations will employ 3,500 by 2020".
13. Whitehead, Thomas. (1 October 2013). "Ubisoft Quebec Planning Major Expansion of Workforce".
14. Handrahan, Matthew. (24 January 2014). "Ubisoft to create 100 new jobs in Quebec City studio".
15. Rose, Mike. (24 January 2014). "Ubisoft expanding its development operations in Quebec".
16. Brightman, James. (2 July 2014). "Ubisoft expands Quebec studio to head production on new Assassin's Creed".
17. Therrien, Yves. (28 November 2017). "Nouvelle direction chez Ubisoft".
18. Good, Owen S.. (5 December 2018). "BioWare veteran Mike Laidlaw joins Ubisoft".
19. Good, Owen S.. (1 February 2020). "Dragon Age creator Mike Laidlaw departs Ubisoft after just a year".
20. (24 April 2019). "UbiNord Opening: A Monday Like No Other".
21. Sinclair, Brendan. (12 December 2019). "Motive GM establishes means and opportunity".
22. Sinclair, Brendan. (24 July 2020). "Ubisoft Quebec managing director steps down".
23. Totilo, Stephen. (3 April 2018). "How Ubisoft Makes So Many ''Assassin's Creed'' Games".
24. Champane, Jimmy. (2 July 2014). "New Assassin's Creed Game to be Developed by Ubisoft Quebec".
25. Batchelor, James. (26 September 2018). "How Odyssey is changing the face of Assassin's Creed".
26. Ubisoft Québec. "This is the beginning of the Rainbow Six Mobile adventure in partnership with Ubisoft Montréal.".
27. "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege {{!}} Ubisoft (US)".