Mar 25, 2021

Amazon Games Opens Fourth Development Studio in Montreal

Amazon Games is opening its fourth game development studio in Montreal, which joins existing studios in Seattle, Orange County, and San Diego. The new location is working on an AAA title, an online multiplayer based on a new IP.

Amazon Games is actively hiring to build out the team, which will be led by industry veterans Luc Bouchard (head of production), Xavier Marquis (creative director), Alexandre Remy (head of product), and Romain Rimokh (content director). They most recently worked as the core team behind the Ubisoft tactical shooter Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.

Founded in 2012, Amazon Games has struggled in the past, with its failed racing simulator The Grand Tour (which was pulled from shelves after a year and a half), low player turnout for the free-to-play shooter Crucible (which was killed five months after release), and issues with upcoming open-world MMO New World (image at top), which was delayed in part due to depictions of Native Americans that were deemed racist.

Despite this, and reports of an unsavory work culture, the company continues to expand. And with Amazon owning Twitch, the game-focused live-streaming platform that reportedly draws around 26 million people a day, it's understandable that Amazon continues to heavily invest in this industry. Marquis commented that the new studio marked a “blank page” offering “the creative freedom to create a completely unique experience in the multiplayer space.”

Upcoming internally developed titles from Amazon Games include the aforementioned New World, releasing in August 2021, and several unannounced projects currently in development. Amazon Games is also a publisher of externally developed games, including an upcoming title developed by Smilegate RPG.