Ubisoft Toronto

Lore & Background

Ubisoft announced in July 2009 that it was establishing a Toronto-based development studio. Yannis Mallat, the CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, was to become Ubisoft Toronto's CEO, while the government of Ontario was to invest over a course of 10 years to create up to 800 jobs. Unlike other Ubisoft studios, Ubisoft Toronto was immediately allowed to lead development of its games, though it also served to support Montreal as a sister studio. By September 2009, Jade Raymond was put in charge of establishing the studio. Most of the studio's staff in its development phase, including Raymond, transferred from Ubisoft Montreal. Key hires included producer Alexandre Parizeau and creative director Maxime Béland, who were brought on for the production of a new Splinter Cell game, and were considered co-founders alongside Raymond. A second team for an undisclosed project was headed by Lesley Phord-Toy, and Rima Brek was put in charge of the internal Technology Group. By May 2010, Ubisoft Toronto had received more than 2,000 job applications. The offices were established from a former General Electric building in the Junction Triangle neighborhood of Toronto. Ubisoft Toronto began operating in late 2009 and formally opened in September 2010. By March 2012, the studio had grown to 200 people, and to 300 by September 2013. In September 2012, it received an internal performance capture studio. The debut project, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, was released in August 2013 to critical success. Raymond left and was succeeded as general manager by Parizeau. By July 2015, the studio was developing an original IP, later revealed as Starlink: Battle for Atlas, released in 2018. As of July 2017, Ubisoft Toronto has 600 staff members. In late June and July 2020, over one hundred employees wrote to Parizeau to report concerns related to sexual misconduct and lack of action by management. Ubisoft investigated and requested co-founder Maxime Béland resign. Parizeau left in February 2021 and was replaced by Istvan Tajnay. In December 2021, it was announced the studio was developing a remake of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002). Tajnay left in July 2023 and was replaced by Darryl Long. In June 2024, it was announced Ubisoft Toronto would assist Ubisoft Montreal in the development of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. Later that month, 33 employees were let go as part of a t

In Their Own Story

The office hums at 2 a.m. local time. A developer pulls up a satellite-derived terrain mesh on her monitor, adjusting the elevation of a ridge line that will, in the final build, frame a sniper's firing position overlooking a Ghost faction outpost. On the adjacent screen, a level-design colleague tags three waypoints where a player's Ghost squad will breach a compound during a scripted engagement. The build notes scroll past: collision fixes, LOD adjustments, a new weather-state trigger for the monsoon cycle. None of this will appear in a credits screen by name, but the ridge, the breach, the rain—it is the world the player will run through, gun raised, calling in a helicopter from a cliff face three kilometres away. The studio's contribution is invisible in the final frame and essential to every one of them.

Reader's Guide

The source article does not provide any guide information about Ghost Recon or gameplay tips.

Did You Know?

• Ubisoft Toronto was established under Jade Raymond in September 2010.
• The studio's debut project was Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, released in August 2013.
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas was the studio's first own IP, released in 2018.
• As of July 2017, Ubisoft Toronto had 600 staff members.
• The studio received an internal performance capture studio in September 2012.