Ubisoft

Ubisoft Montpellier is a game development studio in the Ubisoft network, founded in 1994 in southern France by Michel Ancel and Frédéric Houde. The studio began as Ubi Pictures following the conceptualization of Rayman, and its work on the franchise helped establish Montpellier as a longstanding creative centre within Ubisoft.

The studio develops original interactive entertainment and contributes to productions across the wider Ubisoft network. Its work spans 2D and 3D action-adventure and platforming games, full-cycle production and co-development, as well as art, character modelling, motion capture, animation engineering, systems architecture, tooling, sound design and audio direction.

Technology and creative practice

Montpellier has developed proprietary technology including the Jade engine, created for Beyond Good & Evil, and the UbiArt Framework, which was designed to help artists and animators bring hand-drawn 2D artwork into playable game worlds. Its technical capabilities also include procedural animation, ragdoll physics, real-time visual effects and level design.

Selected work

• Rayman series, including Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends
• Beyond Good & Evil and Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War and Valiant Hearts: Coming Home
• Rabbids and Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, From Dust, and ZombiU / Zombi

The studio has also contributed to co-development collaborations including Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Steep, and Space Junkies. It is reported to be leading production on Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Since 2019, Ubisoft Montpellier has worked from its purpose-built "Le Monolithe" facility in the Montpellier metropolitan area. Istvan Tajnay was appointed Managing Director in September 2023.