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| Where the Artists Are the Superheroes | Where the Artists Are the Superheroes |
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| When Tchae Measroch leaves work, his hands usually bear a fresh cut or bruise. He works, often on his knees, in a small room crowded with an odd mix of items: a dried-grass hula skirt, a car door, baseball bats, swords and knives of varying length, a camouflage net typically used to disguise military equipment from enemy eyes. | When Tchae Measroch leaves work, his hands usually bear a fresh cut or bruise. He works, often on his knees, in a small room crowded with an odd mix of items: a dried-grass hula skirt, a car door, baseball bats, swords and knives of varying length, a camouflage net typically used to disguise military equipment from enemy eyes. |
| Mr. Measroch, a lively 36-year-old sound-effects artist, spends his days figuring out how to make noises he’s never heard — like that of an 18th-century musket being loaded or the thump of someone’s skull hitting the deck of a warship. A selection of wooden flooring samples also helps him create the sounds of each character’s footfalls, no matter in what location, or century, they appear. “A big part of the job is footsteps,” he explains. | Mr. Measroch, a lively 36-year-old sound-effects artist, spends his days figuring out how to make noises he’s never heard — like that of an 18th-century musket being loaded or the thump of someone’s skull hitting the deck of a warship. A selection of wooden flooring samples also helps him create the sounds of each character’s footfalls, no matter in what location, or century, they appear. “A big part of the job is footsteps,” he explains. |
| The footsteps belong to characters like Jason Brody, the protagonist of Far Cry 3, a best-selling first-person shooter game created by Ubisoft. The company is the world’s fourth-largest game maker, ranked by sales, after Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Nintendo, according to Michael Pachter, an industry analyst at Wedbush Securities. But Ubisoft’s video game production studio in Montreal, where Mr. Measroch works, is one of the world’s largest, with a staff of 2,500. It is here where an overwhelmingly male staff of writers, producers, coders, directors, animators, artists and others come together to create the fantasy worlds of games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, into which millions of people escape. | The footsteps belong to characters like Jason Brody, the protagonist of Far Cry 3, a best-selling first-person shooter game created by Ubisoft. The company is the world’s fourth-largest game maker, ranked by sales, after Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Nintendo, according to Michael Pachter, an industry analyst at Wedbush Securities. But Ubisoft’s video game production studio in Montreal, where Mr. Measroch works, is one of the world’s largest, with a staff of 2,500. It is here where an overwhelmingly male staff of writers, producers, coders, directors, animators, artists and others come together to create the fantasy worlds of games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, into which millions of people escape. |
| When people play a Ubisoft game, Mr. Measroch’s ingenuity has wedded the on-screen action with the sounds that make it feel authentic. This may be technologically sophisticated entertainment, but when a clanking pirate falls on a ship’s deck, the sound is actually Mr. Measroch banging a leather handbag with metal rings against a slab of wood. When wind rustles through tall grass, he’s gently waving the hula skirt in front of his microphone. Leaves shaking in a breeze? That’s him shaking the camouflage net. | When people play a Ubisoft game, Mr. Measroch’s ingenuity has wedded the on-screen action with the sounds that make it feel authentic. This may be technologically sophisticated entertainment, but when a clanking pirate falls on a ship’s deck, the sound is actually Mr. Measroch banging a leather handbag with metal rings against a slab of wood. When wind rustles through tall grass, he’s gently waving the hula skirt in front of his microphone. Leaves shaking in a breeze? That’s him shaking the camouflage net. |
| The company is perhaps most admired for its games’ attention to detail — the historical accuracy of a swordfight in Renaissance Italy, for example, or the emotional nuance in a villain’s sneer. In 2012, Ubisoft was named best video game publisher by six industry groups at E3, the annual industry conference, and won the award for best technology for Far Cry 3 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. | The company is perhaps most admired for its games’ attention to detail — the historical accuracy of a swordfight in Renaissance Italy, for example, or the emotional nuance in a villain’s sneer. In 2012, Ubisoft was named best video game publisher by six industry groups at E3, the annual industry conference, and won the award for best technology for Far Cry 3 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. |
| “When you play an E.A. game, it feels like the business people got the last word,” says Stephen Totilo, editor in chief of the video game Web site Kotaku (and an occasional game reviewer for The New York Times). “With Ubisoft, you can tell that the creative people did. It’s pretty clear they take far more creative risks, even in a sequel. They’re definitely putting art ahead of other companies.” | “When you play an E.A. game, it feels like the business people got the last word,” says Stephen Totilo, editor in chief of the video game Web site Kotaku (and an occasional game reviewer for The New York Times). “With Ubisoft, you can tell that the creative people did. It’s pretty clear they take far more creative risks, even in a sequel. They’re definitely putting art ahead of other companies.” |
| THE Montreal studio of Ubisoft fills a five-story red brick building, a former textile factory built in 1903 that covers a city block at the northern end of Boulevard St. Laurent. | THE Montreal studio of Ubisoft fills a five-story red brick building, a former textile factory built in 1903 that covers a city block at the northern end of Boulevard St. Laurent. |
| The company is based in Rennes, France; it was founded by five brothers from Brittany in 1986. They opened the studio in Montreal in 1997, lured by generous tax credits. American competitors soon followed — Electronic Arts in 2004 and a Quebec division of Warner Brothers Games in 2008 — making Montreal a video game industry center. | |
| The company takes pains to achieve authenticity — sending a staff member to sailing school, for example, so he could help create a detailed naval fight scene in Assassin’s Creed — but it does not put art ahead of money. It keeps costs down and hedges its bets. (There are nine installments in the less-costly-to-make Just Dance series.) For the first nine months of its current fiscal year, through Dec. 31, 2012, sales totaled 1.1 billion euros, or about $1.4 billion, up 20 percent from 900 million euros in the comparable year-earlier period. | The company takes pains to achieve authenticity — sending a staff member to sailing school, for example, so he could help create a detailed naval fight scene in Assassin’s Creed — but it does not put art ahead of money. It keeps costs down and hedges its bets. (There are nine installments in the less-costly-to-make Just Dance series.) For the first nine months of its current fiscal year, through Dec. 31, 2012, sales totaled 1.1 billion euros, or about $1.4 billion, up 20 percent from 900 million euros in the comparable year-earlier period. |
| Still, the lucrative business of making video games, which for major game makers like Ubisoft remains largely dependent on repeat success of blockbuster sequels, is now being challenged by the rising popularity of mobile technology like smartphones and tablets. Another Montreal studio, THQ, recently filed for bankruptcy, as did Atari, for years an industry leader. | Still, the lucrative business of making video games, which for major game makers like Ubisoft remains largely dependent on repeat success of blockbuster sequels, is now being challenged by the rising popularity of mobile technology like smartphones and tablets. Another Montreal studio, THQ, recently filed for bankruptcy, as did Atari, for years an industry leader. |
| “It’s a vulnerable industry,” says Nate Wooley, publisher of the Web site Game Industry News. | “It’s a vulnerable industry,” says Nate Wooley, publisher of the Web site Game Industry News. |
| And the best way to stay strong, suggests Yannis Mallat, chief executive of Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, is to keep pushing the excitement of the experience. “A few years ago,” he says, “there was room in the marketplace for average games. Now, players are more demanding, and rightfully so.” | And the best way to stay strong, suggests Yannis Mallat, chief executive of Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, is to keep pushing the excitement of the experience. “A few years ago,” he says, “there was room in the marketplace for average games. Now, players are more demanding, and rightfully so.” |
| The games are tested in-house at every stage, with producers hoping their work produces “goose bumps,” says Luc Duchaine, a former game producer there who is now Ubisoft’s Montreal director of communications. | The games are tested in-house at every stage, with producers hoping their work produces “goose bumps,” says Luc Duchaine, a former game producer there who is now Ubisoft’s Montreal director of communications. |
| The company is particularly known for its extensive use of performance capture, in which a director works with hired actors. The actors’ gestures and facial expressions, translated into animation, make the characters more emotionally resonant, as in the case of Vaas Montenegro, the Far Cry 3 villain played by the actor Michael Mando. | The company is particularly known for its extensive use of performance capture, in which a director works with hired actors. The actors’ gestures and facial expressions, translated into animation, make the characters more emotionally resonant, as in the case of Vaas Montenegro, the Far Cry 3 villain played by the actor Michael Mando. |
| “The eyes are what you notice first,” says Jeffrey Yohalem, the game’s head writer, who created the character. “They seem to look right at you, to actually see into you.” In a motion capture performance, Mr. Yohalem says, actors like Mr. Mando have to “create a style between the exaggerated movements of the theatrical and the minimalism of film.” | “The eyes are what you notice first,” says Jeffrey Yohalem, the game’s head writer, who created the character. “They seem to look right at you, to actually see into you.” In a motion capture performance, Mr. Yohalem says, actors like Mr. Mando have to “create a style between the exaggerated movements of the theatrical and the minimalism of film.” |
| To achieve these effects, actors strap on carbon-fiber helmets with cameras mounted about two feet from their faces to record every squint, frown or smile. “Very often, the character is in the face and hands,” says Anne Gibeault, associate producer for cinematics in the Montreal studio. | To achieve these effects, actors strap on carbon-fiber helmets with cameras mounted about two feet from their faces to record every squint, frown or smile. “Very often, the character is in the face and hands,” says Anne Gibeault, associate producer for cinematics in the Montreal studio. |
| A new game, even a sequel, usually begins with brainstorming among a writer and several producers, lasting about three months, Ms. Gibeault says. When Mr. Yohalem began to write Far Cry 3, a first-person shooter game set on a tropical island, he says, the idea came “from something I needed to express at that moment.” He adds: “It’s a game about systems and reward loops. It’s all an allegory.” | A new game, even a sequel, usually begins with brainstorming among a writer and several producers, lasting about three months, Ms. Gibeault says. When Mr. Yohalem began to write Far Cry 3, a first-person shooter game set on a tropical island, he says, the idea came “from something I needed to express at that moment.” He adds: “It’s a game about systems and reward loops. It’s all an allegory.” |
| He chose the setting of a tropical island as much as a warning against the dangers of escapism as for the fact that it’s an enjoyable place for players to interact with characters. | He chose the setting of a tropical island as much as a warning against the dangers of escapism as for the fact that it’s an enjoyable place for players to interact with characters. |
| Mr. Yohalem, 29, is a Yale graduate from Santa Fe, N.M. During college, he worked as an intern on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” but after seeing how hard it was for talented young writers to rise in TV, he chose to make his living creating video games. | Mr. Yohalem, 29, is a Yale graduate from Santa Fe, N.M. During college, he worked as an intern on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” but after seeing how hard it was for talented young writers to rise in TV, he chose to make his living creating video games. |
| “People in television try and try and try, but it cemented in me that if I wanted to say something artistically, this was a better choice,” says Mr. Yohalem, who has been at Ubisoft for seven years. “It’s the cutting edge. It’s the Wild West.” | “People in television try and try and try, but it cemented in me that if I wanted to say something artistically, this was a better choice,” says Mr. Yohalem, who has been at Ubisoft for seven years. “It’s the cutting edge. It’s the Wild West.” |
| Creativity is “part of who we are,” Mr. Mallat says. “It’s not just recruiting. It’s an environment, a mind-set. What we do is to create an environment where an exchange of ideas can happen.” | Creativity is “part of who we are,” Mr. Mallat says. “It’s not just recruiting. It’s an environment, a mind-set. What we do is to create an environment where an exchange of ideas can happen.” |
| The Montreal studio employs people of 55 nationalities, though most are French, Canadian, British or American, and this diversity appears to help cultivate the studio’s particular creative style. Ubisoft employs 7,450 staff members around the world, in 26 offices from Shanghai and Singapore to Casablanca and Bucharest. Every release begins with this unusual on-screen disclaimer: “This game was developed by a multicultural team of various religions and beliefs.” | The Montreal studio employs people of 55 nationalities, though most are French, Canadian, British or American, and this diversity appears to help cultivate the studio’s particular creative style. Ubisoft employs 7,450 staff members around the world, in 26 offices from Shanghai and Singapore to Casablanca and Bucharest. Every release begins with this unusual on-screen disclaimer: “This game was developed by a multicultural team of various religions and beliefs.” |
| While such global teamwork is arguably good for creativity, it also serves another purpose: to keep the production line humming nonstop. Stephanie Harvey, a game developer, says her Montreal-based team often works with Ubisoft employees in Romania. “They test the versions when we’re not working, so we can come in and start work on it again the next day.” | While such global teamwork is arguably good for creativity, it also serves another purpose: to keep the production line humming nonstop. Stephanie Harvey, a game developer, says her Montreal-based team often works with Ubisoft employees in Romania. “They test the versions when we’re not working, so we can come in and start work on it again the next day.” |
| Working globally also lowers labor costs. Some employees say that the company is a great place to start out — calling it “Ubischool” — but that unless you are a senior executive or the producer of a successful title, the salaries are lower than those of competitors. “They probably pay 90 percent of what everyone else in Montreal is paying, and that’s less than they pay people in the U.S., and that’s less than they pay in the U.K.,” says Mr. Pachter, the industry analyst. | Working globally also lowers labor costs. Some employees say that the company is a great place to start out — calling it “Ubischool” — but that unless you are a senior executive or the producer of a successful title, the salaries are lower than those of competitors. “They probably pay 90 percent of what everyone else in Montreal is paying, and that’s less than they pay people in the U.S., and that’s less than they pay in the U.K.,” says Mr. Pachter, the industry analyst. |
| Of 139 Ubisoft reviews on Glassdoor, a Web site where anonymous current and former employees rate employers, 56 — from around the world and in Montreal — complained about low pay and few raises. | Of 139 Ubisoft reviews on Glassdoor, a Web site where anonymous current and former employees rate employers, 56 — from around the world and in Montreal — complained about low pay and few raises. |
| There was much industry speculation when Patrice Désilets, who created Assassin’s Creed, left Ubisoft in 2010 to work for THQ, a rival in Montreal. Had his bonus been insufficient? His pay too low? Neither Mr. Désilets nor his Los Angeles agent would discuss the matter; after Ubisoft acquired THQ Montreal in an auction of THQ assets in January, he returned to work for his former employer. | There was much industry speculation when Patrice Désilets, who created Assassin’s Creed, left Ubisoft in 2010 to work for THQ, a rival in Montreal. Had his bonus been insufficient? His pay too low? Neither Mr. Désilets nor his Los Angeles agent would discuss the matter; after Ubisoft acquired THQ Montreal in an auction of THQ assets in January, he returned to work for his former employer. |
| Senior staff members, however, point to other benefits of working at Ubisoft. They say they enjoy a leeway that is unusual at other game companies. “We asked for a two-month delay on Far Cry 3,” Ms. Gibeault says. “The game wasn’t as polished as we wanted it to be. It was amazing they gave us the extra time. Most places cut corners. They want you to ship, ship, ship.” | Senior staff members, however, point to other benefits of working at Ubisoft. They say they enjoy a leeway that is unusual at other game companies. “We asked for a two-month delay on Far Cry 3,” Ms. Gibeault says. “The game wasn’t as polished as we wanted it to be. It was amazing they gave us the extra time. Most places cut corners. They want you to ship, ship, ship.” |
| They didn’t make their desired deadline — Black Friday 2012, the day after Thanksgiving — with Far Cry 3. The game went on sale 11 days later in the United States, on Dec. 4, but has nonetheless sold 4.5 million units. | They didn’t make their desired deadline — Black Friday 2012, the day after Thanksgiving — with Far Cry 3. The game went on sale 11 days later in the United States, on Dec. 4, but has nonetheless sold 4.5 million units. |
| LIKE other game companies, Ubisoft is obsessively protective of its intellectual property. Accessing every floor of the studio requires passing through a security turnstile. | LIKE other game companies, Ubisoft is obsessively protective of its intellectual property. Accessing every floor of the studio requires passing through a security turnstile. |
| “There is a sort of paranoia over each work in progress,” says Kris Graft, editor in chief of the industry news site Gamasutra. “There’s always rampant speculation over every new game, and fans are hungry for any snippet of information.” A fan once peered through the ground-floor windows where Ubisoft developers were working, photographed what he saw on a computer screen and quickly spread the word. The windows have since been frosted. | “There is a sort of paranoia over each work in progress,” says Kris Graft, editor in chief of the industry news site Gamasutra. “There’s always rampant speculation over every new game, and fans are hungry for any snippet of information.” A fan once peered through the ground-floor windows where Ubisoft developers were working, photographed what he saw on a computer screen and quickly spread the word. The windows have since been frosted. |
| “It’s such a high-risk and highly competitive marketplace,” Mr. Graft says. “If you invest $50 million developing a game that fails, that’s a complete disaster.” | “It’s such a high-risk and highly competitive marketplace,” Mr. Graft says. “If you invest $50 million developing a game that fails, that’s a complete disaster.” |
| To cushion that risk, Ubisoft is diversifying its business. Ubisoft Motion Pictures was created in 2011 to expand the brand into film, TV and Web series. In addition to making a film, not yet released, from Tom Clancy’s video game, Splinter Cell, the studio is also partnering with New Regency on a film based on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and is in production on a collection of 78 seven-minute episodes for TV based on the stars of the game franchise Rabbids, in partnership with France Télévisions and Nickelodeon. | To cushion that risk, Ubisoft is diversifying its business. Ubisoft Motion Pictures was created in 2011 to expand the brand into film, TV and Web series. In addition to making a film, not yet released, from Tom Clancy’s video game, Splinter Cell, the studio is also partnering with New Regency on a film based on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and is in production on a collection of 78 seven-minute episodes for TV based on the stars of the game franchise Rabbids, in partnership with France Télévisions and Nickelodeon. |
| While the film industry is fraught with its own problems, game makers like Ubisoft still crave its clout and cultural respect. “We’re still a young industry,” says Mr. Duchaine, Ubisoft’s Montreal head of communications. “The end product is entertainment, but the process of creating it is serious and serious money is involved.” | While the film industry is fraught with its own problems, game makers like Ubisoft still crave its clout and cultural respect. “We’re still a young industry,” says Mr. Duchaine, Ubisoft’s Montreal head of communications. “The end product is entertainment, but the process of creating it is serious and serious money is involved.” |
| “People outside of it still think we’re a bunch of teenagers working in our parents’ basement or garage,” he says. “It’s not true! It’s a real business, a serious business.” | “People outside of it still think we’re a bunch of teenagers working in our parents’ basement or garage,” he says. “It’s not true! It’s a real business, a serious business.” |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: April 28, 2013 | Correction: April 28, 2013 |
An earlier version of this article misstated the year that Ubisoft was founded. It was 1986, not 1996. | An earlier version of this article misstated the year that Ubisoft was founded. It was 1986, not 1996. |