Ubisoft Quebec
Ubisoft Quebec was announced on 11 April 2005, and was effectively opened 2 June 2005. In June 2008, Ubisoft Quebec ramped up its computer-generated imagery business to work on movies in conjunction with Guillemot. The unit was closed down again with the foundation of Ubisoft Motion Pictures in May 2011. On 3 November 2011, Ubisoft acquired a Quebec City-based development division of Longtail Studios, of which 48 employees were merged into Ubisoft Quebec, while 6–7, including the division's manager, departed.
Watch Dogs 2
At E3 2014, Ubisoft executive Tony Key claimed that they were very satisfied with the sales of the first game, and that the brand would be turned into a long-running franchise. According to creative director Jonathan Morin, the first game's main goal was to establish the "Watch Dogs" brand. It was intended that they take risks with the sequel, instead of creating a more polished version of the previous game. To improve the game, Morin and his team read the reviews of the first game, and visited NeoGAF and various forums to study player feedback. Their priorities included creating a "believable" environment, giving players more freedom, and introducing a new leading character, whose personality would be completely different from that of the protagonist of the first game, Aiden Pearce. The primary developer Ubisoft Montreal worked with other subsidiaries Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Kiev, and Ubisoft Reflections to aid in the production. The driving mechanic was completely overhauled to make it more accessible to players, and was developed by Ubisoft Reflections, the developer of Ubisoft's own "Driver" series. In light of complaints about a graphical downgrade in "Watch Dogs" from what was seen at E3 2012, Ubisoft assured that "Watch Dogs 2" would not suffer the same outcome because, unlike the first installment, it was developed for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One from the start. Another improvement from the first game was a more prominent thematic connection to the narrative. Main operations are structured like story arcs that last up to ninety minutes each, advancing the plot with each completion.