Amazon Games Opens Montreal Studio, Developing AAA Online Multiplayer Game - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 April 2021 / 1,463 Views

Amazon Games has announced it has opened up a new studio based in Montreal, Canada. It will focus on creating a AAA online multiplayer based on a new IP.

The developer founding members include head of production Luc Bouchard, creative director Xavier Marquis, head of product Alexandre Remy, and content director Romain Rimokh.

"Montreal’s rich vein of creative talent will be a valuable asset as we continue building our development and publishing teams," said Christoph Hartmann, VP of Amazon Games. "The highly skilled and experienced team at our new Montreal studio shares our commitment to creating best-in-class online games, and brings with them a wealth of knowledge and passion for building deep, community-focused multiplayer experiences. I look forward to watching them invent on behalf of customers as they grow their team and develop their first project."

Creative Director Xavier Marquis added, "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.

"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."

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

6 Comments

holzi (on 23 March 2021)

Still to be seen if Amazon is ready to wait half a decade+ for software output to get decent.

kazuyamishima (on 24 March 2021)

A lot of people underestimate Amazon, but if somehow they try to include Gaming into Prime, they can become a serious contender in the gaming streaming services.

mutantsushi (on 23 March 2021)

I think big Q is Amazon's competition regulation situation. If streaming becomes common, Amazon sees opportunity to use it's brand engagement and servers to move into that. But if that underlying sectoral dominance is questioned, leveraging it for new ventures could also be. They could always sell whatever studios/IP they end up with, but perhaps not make solid return on investment if they wasted money and/or are forced to sell by regulators. Of course, the sums involved are chump change for Amazon so they probably don't care, if they lose it doesn't really hurt them, so it's just upside to them.