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.
Steep (video game)
The game was developed by Ubisoft Annecy, a French studio which had previously worked on the multiplayer modes of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise and the "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" franchise as well as assisting in the development of "Tom Clancy's The Division". The game was co-developed by Ubisoft studios in Kiev and Montpellier. "Steep" became the first original game created by them. Development of the game was started in late 2013. The concept was inspired by the developer's close proximity to the Alps, and another Ubisoft game, "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands", whose large open world forced developer Ubisoft Paris to implement transport methods such as paragliding. The "Trials" series also influenced the game's design. Ubisoft originally was not convinced by the development team, but they later greenlit the project's development, mainly due to the huge popularity of extreme sporting videos on the video sharing website YouTube. The developers were also inspired by the renewed interest in the skateboarding game "Skate 3" after it was re-popularized through Let's Play streaming events performed by YouTubers and others. According to Igor Manceau, the game's director, the team pitched the project to Ubisoft as they believed that the game's online structure and open world are elements that are new to the sports genre.