Amazon has been attempting to make big moves in the games industry for a while not, and it’s just made another one. It’s announced the opening of a new studio in Montreal, Canada, named simply Amazon Games Montreal. It becomes Amazon’s fourth game development studio, joining studios in San Diego, Seattle, and Orange County.
Amazon Games Montreal is focused on the development of a new online multiplayer IP, and it’s certainly hired talent that has experience in that area, bringing in several people in leadership roles who were previously involved with Ubisoft’s immensely popular Rainbow Six Siege. That includes creative director Xavier Marquis (who takes on the same role here), fellow former creative director Romain Rimokh (who joins as content director), former development director for technology group Luc Bouchard (who is now the head of productions), and former brand and esports director Alexandre Remy (who is the head of product at Amazon Games Montreal).
“Building upon 8 years of experience with Siege, we are excited to start with a blank page and the creative freedom to create a completely unique experience in the multiplayer space,” says Xavier Marquis. “From our first discussion, we felt a true connection with the people at Amazon Games, their approach to gaming and the sheer amount of knowledge, expertise and technology available there. It is quite humbling and we couldn’t be more excited to start a studio with them.”
Amazon’s track record in the games industry has been far from the best. Free-to-play multiplayer third person shooter Crucible launched in May of 2020, but proved to be a failure of all fronts, being shut down merely months later. Amazon is currently also working on the ambitious MMORPG New World, which is due out this August.