Ubisoft Montreal
The establishment of Ubisoft Montreal is considered to have significant impact on Montreal. The Mile End area over the next several years transformed from a low-rent area to a commercial hub with new businesses, stores, restaurants and other attractions for the young workforce. For the city overall, Ubisoft Montreal was the first major video game studio and helped to establish its position as a creative city. Several other publishers, including Electronic Arts, Eidos Interactive, THQ and Warner Bros., established studios in Montreal following Ubisoft, with the Quebec and federal governments continuity to offer subsidiary programs to support high-tech job creation. In exchange, the studio has spent up to in the province of Quebec, and with their parent publisher, helped to open Ubisoft Quebec in Quebec City in 2005 and Ubisoft Saguenay in Saguenay in 2018 to help support Ubisoft Montreal's efforts, using similar tax incentives from the providence to help found these.
Eidos Montréal
The studio was founded by Eidos Interactive (later renamed Square Enix Europe) in 2007, with Stéphane D'Astous appointed general manager. According to D'Astous, unlike other video game development studios, Eidos Montréal's development cycle is characterized by smaller teams (totalling 350) working over a longer period. The same year as its founding, the studio announced its first project: the third installment of the "Deus Ex" series, "", which was released in 2011. In 2009, the studio announced its second project, the fourth installment of the "Thief" series. On 4 March 2014, Square Enix announced that 27 employees were laid off from Eidos Montréal. Stéphane D'Astous resigned from Eidos Montréal on 19 July 2013, citing irreconcilable differences with parent company Square Enix.