In an effort to bolster their first-party efforts on Stadia being led led by former Ubisoft executive Jade Raymond, Google has hired three former Ubisoft developers, according to VGC. In October, Raymond announced the opening of a new studio in Montreal, one of the busiest cities for game development.
The three new hires are Sébastien Puel, Francois Pelland, and Mathieu Leduc. Puel joins Stadia's Montreal operation as director general and previously served as the executive producer on the Assassin's Creed franchise for over a decade beginning with Assassin's Creed 2 and concluding with Assassin's Creed Unity.
Pelland joins Stadia as head of production for first-party strategy. At Ubisoft, he was the executive director of development at Ubisoft Quebec and helped oversee Assassin's Creed Syndicate. He also worked on the colonial America-set Assassin's Creed 3 and South Park: The Stick of Truth after Ubisoft bought the rights from the folded THQ.
Leduc joins Stadia as art director, a role he is closely familiar with, having served the same role at Ubisoft for both Watch Dogs games as well as being an assistant art director for the original Assassin's Creed.
Stadia is far from ready to announce their specific plans for the Montreal studio, but for now we know at least a few more games are coming to Stadia before the end of the calendar year, including Darksiders: Genesis and Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
Stadia began its rollout of a launch on November 19 for early adopters of the Founder's Edition. Early critical impressions have been mixed at best and industry analysts are already doubting the staying power of Google's big bet on its video game platform. Other competitors, like Microsoft's xCloud and Sony's PS Now, are growing in their usage and have the benefit of enormous baked-in fan bases already, something Stadia is struggling to find with a library almost entirely comprised of older games.
