Subsidiary | |
Industry | Video game industry |
Founded | 1997 |
Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Key people
|
Yannis Mallat (CEO) |
Owner | Ubisoft |
Number of employees
|
2,700+ (2014) |
Parent | Ubisoft |
Website | montreal |
Coordinates: 45°31′30″N 73°35′53″W / 45.525°N 73.598°W
Ubisoft Divertissements Inc. (formerly Ubi Soft Divertissements Inc.), doing business as Ubisoft Montreal (formerly Ubi Soft Montreal), is a Canadian subsidiary of the French video game developer Ubisoft, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Founded in 1997, initially developing low-profile projects, the studio is now one of the largest in the world, with over 2,700 employees. It is responsible for founding and developing, among others, games in the Prince of Persia, Far Cry and Assassin's Creed series, as well as those in the Tom Clancy franchise and Watch Dogs.
The studio was opened in 1997, with government funding. The parent company Ubisoft also cited Quebec's extensive French-speaking population, close relationship with France, and proximity to North American market as reasons for opening a studio there. Martin Tremblay joined the studio as executive vice president in 1999, but was promoted to chief operating officer a year later.
The history of Ubisoft Montreal goes back to the early 1990s. At that time, the manufacturing and textiles industries in Montreal were quickly disappearing, and therefore the political party in power at the time — the Parti Québécois (PQ) — pursued new job creation. The PQ wanted Montreal to become a multimedia hub, since multimedia was considered a growing industry due to the rise in the number of people who owned computers, advancing technology, and the rise of the internet.