Amazon has announced that Ubisoft has acquired the rights to in-development MOBA March of Giants. As part of this deal, Ubisoft has also acquired the development team, which was formerly known as Amazon Games Montreal. The publisher will take over the work of supporting the studio’s development efforts, while Amazon will continue to provide its own support for the marketing through Twitch.
March of Giants has been described as being an “ambitious new entrant” in a genre that has largely been dominated by two games—Valve’s Dota 2 and Riot Games’ League of Legends. Much like these two, the gameplay revolves around lane-based combat where two teams vie for victory over each other by destroying each others’ bases, and will have a focus on “tactical depth” and “meaningful team play”.
Ubisoft’s acquisition of the rights to March of Giants also comes shortly after the title’s closed alpha tests, which was revealed as seeing quite a positive response. According to this announcement, 98 percent of the closed alpha participants described March of Giants as bringing something new to the genre. The team behind the MOBA include veteran developers Xavier Marquis as creative director and Alexandre Parizeau as senior production leader, who have also worked with Ubisoft in the past. Marquis, for instance, was the original creative director for Rainbow Six Siege, while Parizeau had worked at Ubisoft Toronto.
“Returning to Ubisoft brings things full circle,” said Marquis in a press release. “We built some of our most meaningful work here, and we’re excited to continue developing March of Giants from within Ubisoft. This game has enormous potential, and I know Ubisoft can help us take it to the next level.”
“My thanks go to Amazon for their commitment during the first chapters of March of Giants,” said Parizeau. “Our closed alpha was an important milestone and showed a glimpse of the game’s real promise. Now, by joining Ubisoft, we’re uniting behind a shared vision to build March of Giants into one of the next great, enduring MOBAs.”
Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot has described March of Giants as being a “real opportunity” for the company that would help it expand into one of the most-played multiplayer genres in gaming. Along with this, he also welcomed back veteran developers Marquis and Parizeau to Ubisoft.
“March of Giants has a real opportunity to bring something fresh and dynamic to players, and to help Ubisoft compete in one of gaming’s biggest arenas,” said Guillemot. “We’re looking forward to welcoming back Alexandre, Xavier, and many of the seasoned March of Giants team who have previously worked at Ubisoft, and the entire team’s ambition, creativity and talent align perfectly with our desire to build bold new experiences for players. We look forward to supporting them as they shape the future of this promising new IP.”
March of Giants is being developed for PC and doesn’t yet have a release date.
