Amazon opens new game studio led by former Rainbow Six: Siege creators

Amazon Games opens a new game studio in Montreal. Several former Ubisoft employees who worked on Rainbow Six: Siege founded the studio. The studio is going to create a multiplayer game based on a completely new idea.

Amazon has not yet provided concrete details about the multiplayer game that Amazon Games Montreal will be working on. Amazon specifically mentions that the studio was founded by industry veterans Luc Bouchard, Xavier Marquis, Alexandre Remy and Romain Rimokh. They formed the core team behind the tactical shooter Rainbow Six: Siege, which came out in 2015 and now has more than 70 million players. The background of the foursome may give a hint about the kind of game the studio will be working on. It is not yet known when the game will be released.

Amazon Games Montreal is not Amazon’s first game studio. The internet giant already has studios in Seattle, Orange County and San Diego. They are working on mmorpg New World, which should be released in August this year. Amazon also emphasizes that there are several other titles in development that have not yet been announced.

Last month, Bloomberg wrote citing anonymous sources that Amazon spends half a billion dollars a year developing its own games. Employees paint a picture of difficult developments and problems with the company culture.

Amazon decided in 2012 to start making its own games, but has not yet released a successful game. Several projects have failed. The biggest failure is the Overwatch-esque multiplayer shooter Crucible, which came out last May after years of development. After the game was poorly received, Amazon Crucible decided to pull out and promised improvements. However, in October, Amazon decided to stop development altogether.

Video from 2019, in which Marquis and Remy talk about changes in the development team of Rainbow Six: Siege. The two who now work at Amazon chose a different role within Ubisoft at the time.