Friday, 17 September 2021 00:56

Former Ubisoft Exec Joins Amazon Games

Written by Michael Brandon Ingram
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Amazon Games announces the hiring of Alexandre Parizeau, a former Ubisoft exec who worked on franchises like Splinter Cell and Far Cry.

Amazon's gaming division has been garnering a significant amount of attention in recent months. The online shopping giant has been heavily promoting its upcoming MMORPG New World with the highly-anticipated title receiving a trailer during Gamescom and announcing a release date later this month. Now, the titan of the online space has a new development lead, one who has plenty of experience working on AAA titles.

Amazon Games was first established in 2012 and primarily created games for mobile devices in the years following its inception. In recent years, however, Amazon's gaming division has expanded its operations towards the PC gaming market, localizing popular Korean MMORPG Lost Ark and creating its own fully-fledged online title in New World. The company's gaming division opened a new development studio in Montreal earlier this year with the company recently announcing a major hiring for the studio.

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Amazon recently announced that Alexandre Parizeau, formerly with Ubisoft Toronto, would be joining Amazon Games to head development on a big-budget competitive multiplayer game. Parizeau had previously worked with Ubisoft since his hiring at Ubisoft Montreal in 2005 starting as a producer and later helping to found the company's Toronto studio. Through his time with Ubisoft Toronto, Parizeau served as a managing director and worked on several major titles during his tenure with the company, including Splinter Cell Blacklist and the upcoming Far Cry 6.

Ubisoft has come under fire several times in recent years facing allegations of harassment and discrimination within its international studios. The company has seen several employees come out in protest of many of the company's executives accused of sexism and sexual harassment. Parizeau has been outspoken about the issues and allegations surrounding the company in the past, supporting the many women who came forward with their stories.

Amazon has worked its way into the gaming industry through a number of collaborations not exclusive to its own titles. The company purchased popular streaming service Twitch in 2014 and regularly offers bonuses across several games for Amazon Prime Subscribers. Amazon Prime Gaming also includes a selection of rotating free games with new titles cycled into the service monthly. Amazon also announced the introduction of its own cloud gaming service, Amazon Luna, to compete with similar services like Google Stadia.

Amazon's foray into the games market is one that has been largely successful and the hiring of Parizeau will surely give a boost to the online titan's endeavors.

MORE: Everything You Need to Know About Amazon's Cancelled Lord of the Rings Game

Source: PCGamer

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