Ubisoft Ivory Tower

Ubisoft Ivory Tower is a French video game development studio based in the Lyon metropolitan area. It specializes in open-world racing games and persistent online experiences, combining vehicle simulation, large-scale environments and long-term live-service development. Founded in September 2007 by former Eden Games developers, the studio became part of Ubisoft in October 2015 and continues to operate as a dedicated development studio.

Building The Crew

The studio established its identity with The Crew, released in December 2014. Its online action-driving format brought players into a large, scaled recreation of the contiguous United States, making shared exploration and driving central to the experience. The game surpassed three million players within its first year and became the foundation for the studio’s continuing racing franchise.

Ivory Tower subsequently led development of The Crew: Wild Run and The Crew: Calling All Units. These expansions added motorcycles, monster trucks and police pursuit gameplay, alongside technical improvements. The Crew 2, released in 2018, broadened the series into multiple motorsport disciplines, allowing players to switch between cars, boats and planes.

Released in September 2023, The Crew Motorfest moved the franchise to Oʻahu in Hawaii. Its festival setting combines refined vehicle dynamics, detailed environments and seasonal content. The studio continues to support the game through multi-year live operations while developing future driving projects.

Development capabilities

The studio’s work spans the full development cycle, including game and systems design, vehicle and environment art, technical audio, online backend engineering and quality assurance. Its technical specialties include persistent multiplayer worlds, vehicle physics and cross-platform optimization.

These capabilities support an operating model in which a game’s release is followed by continuing content development, maintenance and updates. Across its racing projects, the studio brings together developers, artists, sound engineers and production specialists to build and sustain shared driving worlds.