Following Amazon’s decision to ‘gut’ its video game division in October as part of 14,000 job cuts across the company, Ubisoft has announced the acquisition of one of its studios – Amazon Games Montreal – which is currently working on MOBA March of Giants.
As per Ubisoft’s announcement, the acquisition includes the rights to March of Giants, and will see the Amazon Games Montreal team join the company. That includes former Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege creative director Xavier Marquis, who joined Amazon in 2021 after leaving Ubisoft two years prior.
As to why Ubisoft wants March of Giants and its team, the company says the global MOBA games market is expected to “continue growing year over year for the rest of the decade, with total revenues roughly doubling by 2030” – and it believes its newly acquired title is “an innovative and differentiated project with the potential to offer something new to current MOBA fans, attract new audiences, and grow into a successful live competitive game.”
“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,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot added in a statement. “We’re looking forward to welcoming back Alexandre [Parizeau], 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.”
Ubisoft notes the terms of its acquisition deal “are not being disclosed”, but it does reveal the agreement includes Amazon’s commitment to providing marketing support for March of Giants on Twitch.
Amazon Games Montreal’s sale follows radical changes to Amazon’s video game strategy in October, when – according to Bloomberg – the company ‘gutted’ its games division as part of sweeping layoffs. At the time, Steven Boom (Amazon’s vice president of Audio, Twitch, and Game) reportedly told employees the company had “made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first-party AAA game development work – specifically around MMOs”, resulting in “significant role reductions in our studios in Irvine and San Diego, as well as our central publishing team.”
In the aftermath of Amazon’s announcement, it was confirmed ongoing work on its New World MMO would cease, and word emerged suggesting its Lord of the Rings MMO had also been canned.
