Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 25, 2013. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
THQ was a game developer for various games such as "South Park: The Stick of Truth" or "Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl"; the company had been in financial difficulty for some time. After THQ’s insolvency became known in December 2012, the sell-off has now begun. Ubisoft Montreal picked up a particular bargain: at the THQ auction in January, it bought THQ’s Montreal studio location for a price said to have been around 2.5 million. Current projects at THQ are the games "1666" and "Underdog".
However, the THQ employees seem pleased about the takeover by Ubisoft, as Ubisoft managing director Yannis Mallat said: “It is the first time in my life that I have gone to an acquired studio, made a speech and received applause from everyone.”
Especially given the history with THQ, this positive feedback from the employees is likely to be a blessing for Ubisoft. The former Assassin’s Creed designer Patrice Désilets had previously been responsible for the THQ studio in Montreal. He left Ubisoft three years ago, later moved to THQ and immediately took several colleagues with him to the new company. Ubisoft is said to have unsuccessfully sued against this move at the time.
In our forthcoming second DP issue of 2013, we will show what goes on at Ubisoft Montreal and how the gaming hit "Far Cry 3" was created. The magazine will be available at newsstands on February 22, 2013, with many making-of images.
In the meantime, enjoy the cinematic trailer "Stranded" for "Far Cry 3":
You can find more information about Ubisoft here: www.ubi.com/de
Image: S. Lacasse/ GNUL from French wikipedia : fr:Image:VuedeMontreal.jpg
