Ubisoft Montreal conducting 'thorough analysis' of THQ acquisition

Ubisoft already had a presence in the great white north of Montreal, but it got a whole lot bigger with the announcement that it was welcoming THQ Montreal into the fold. Ubisoft Montreal head Yannis Mallat has talked about the acquisition positively, but suggested that a lot of the decisions regarding staff and current projects are in the process of being evaluated.

"What I can tell you right now is that we're entering a phase where we're going into a more thorough analysis of everything here and in the coming weeks we'll make up a plan for continuing operations with this new studio," Mallat told Financial Post.

He says it's too early to talk about the possibility of staff reductions, as the company is "evaluating literally everything" as of today. "But I can tell you this, we had and we still have very ambitious plans in terms of growth even before this acquistion and this is really something that we are very thrilled about because we are welcoming those guys are they are going to help us make all these great games that we plan to ship in the coming years." He also mentioned that one notable staff member, Patrice Desilets, would be welcome at the studio if he wanted to stay.

Meanwhile, the legal roadblocks surrounding South Park: The Stick of Truth don't seem to have shaken Mallat. "Well, the game is in development and I guess that some teams will have a look at the game, but for sure we've just acquired the development of the game, so we're going to work with the development studio on that and the plan is to publish the game." Asked if he had an official comment on the legal hurdles, he said "absolutely not."