Ubisoft Montpellier was founded by
Michel Ancel and Frédéric Houde, two French
video game designers. Ancel and Houde thus resigned from Ubi Soft and presented
Rayman to the company, agreeing to develop the game as
freelancers. Ancel and Houde hired three further people—Eric Pelatan, Alexandra Steible, and Olivier Soleil—to form a core team of five. Part of
La Villa became an internal sound studio that was set up in the building's attic. By 2007, Ubisoft Montpellier's staff count had risen to 80 people, led by Xavier Poix as
producer and Ancel as
creative director. Tiwak, as well as other Ubisoft-owned properties in the Montpellier area, were formally merged into Ubisoft Montpellier, which also adopted the "Ubisoft Montpellier" name legally, in March 2011. That same year, Ubisoft Montpellier moved to offices in the Bellegarde
business park in
Castelnau-le-Lez, a town neighbouring Montpellier. In July 2014, Ancel opened an independent development studio, Wild Sheep Studio, while simultaneously remaining creative director for Ubisoft Montpellier. In May 2017, Ubisoft Montpellier announced that it was moving to new, larger offices located close to the previous location. The new offices were designed by Philippe Rubio Architectes and built specifically for Ubisoft Montpellier. At the time, the studio had 220 employees. A
research and development project known as
Uramate is financed by the regional council of
Occitania, which granted the studio in September 2019. Ancel left Ubisoft Montpellier, as well as Wild Sheep Studio and the
video game industry in general, in September 2020 to work with a
wildlife sanctuary. This move came about in the midst of widespread departures of high-profile employees at Ubisoft due to various misconduct allegations. Ancel had been under investigation of toxic behaviour, which was reported by fifteen employees, since August 2020 but disputed these claims as "
fake news" and denounced the link between them and his departure. == Technology ==