Ubisoft Bolsters Online Services With Quazal Acquisition

Hoping to make strides into the online services space, Ubisoft has bought a multiplayer gaming middleware and services firm called Quazal Technologies, with whichit's worked in the past on some online infrastructures for its brands. Quazal's Rendez-Vous and Net-Z solutions are integrated into Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The title won accolades at E3 for its online multiplayer component, and now the French publisher is purchasing the company in the hopes of even closer collaboration. "The engineers at Quazal have honed their expertise over 12 years, and this acquisition guarantees Ubisoft a solid technology that will help us to attain the ambitious objectives of our online strategy,” said Ubisoft technology group executive director Quentin Gallet. Montreal-headquartered Quazal's co-founder and chief technology officer Martin Lavoie says the acquisition will lead to further developing and strengthening "new online services" for Ubisoft, although Quazal's technology and services are to remain available for licensing to the rest of the industry. "We’re happy to be able to continue to express our creative vision via the projects we’ll be working on with Ubisoft," says Lavoie. It's the second acquisition Ubisoft has made this week. The company has also acquired another Quebec studio, Longtail Studios' office in the province, hoping to tap the Dance on Broadway developer's staff for Kinect projects. Ubisoft recently held a "digital day" to showcase its strategy for online and connected gaming, where it spoke of creating multiple entry points for its games across multiple platforms -- for example, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will receive a Facebook companion game that integrates with the console title. The company's also looking closely at the free-to-play online space, with titles like Petz Universe and Might & Magic: Heroes Kingdoms.