For the first time, the next Assassin's Creed won't be made in Montreal
Ubisoft has elected to spread responsibility for the Assassin's Creed franchise around, with the Quebec team taking on lead development duties for at least one future release.
Assassin's Creed has always been a multi-studio franchise, with as many as eight teams from all around the world contributing to Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.
Nevertheless Ubisoft Montreal, one of the largest development teams in the world, has remained in charge of all core Assassin's Creed releases to date, in addition to Far Cry, Watch Dogs and numerous other smaller projects.
That's about to change, with Ubisoft announcing that its relatively new Quebec team will lead development on the next Assassin's Creed game after Unity.
Ubisoft Montreal will remain lead developer on other Assassin's Creed projects, the publisher assured GamesIndustry.
"Montreal will continue to be a lead studio for other AC titles. And Montreal and Quebec will continue to collaborate with each other and with other Ubisoft studios - that's been key for making sure each Assassin's Creed title offers something new and creative for players," a representative said.
"We are one of Ubisoft's flagship studios in the creation of the highest quality online, connected, and mobile gaming worlds. We have many years of experience on major Ubisoft franchises such as Prince of Persia, Heroes of Might & Magic, Watch Dogs, and Assassin's Creed. We are thrilled that we will be heading up one of the next episodes of this major Ubisoft brand," Ubisoft Quebec managing director Nicolas Rioux said.
Ubisoft recently invested $28 million in the Quebec team, and will be using $4 million of this money to move it into new premises, along with a $500,000 grant from Quebec City itself. Ubisoft also reaffirmed its commitment to increasing the Quebec City studio staff, having already made about half of the 100 hires it had promised to bring the current total to around 350.
The next Assassin's Creed game, Unity, is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in October. It adds four-player co-op and is set in Paris during the French Revolution.