Square Enix Montréal was a Canadian
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
based in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. It created the ''Go'' series of turn-based
puzzle games
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion.
H ...
for
mobile device
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
s based on former
Eidos Interactive
Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
intellectual properties.
Square Enix Montréal was founded in November 2011 as a traditional studio under
Square Enix Europe
Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
. Initially planning to create a new
''Hitman'' series game for
consoles and employ several hundred people, its mandate changed in 2013 when it became its parent company's choice studio to produce mobile games. The company developed prototypes for two mobile ''Hitman'' games, which became the
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
-inspired puzzle game ''
Hitman Go
''Hitman Go'' is a turn-based puzzle video game developed by Square Enix Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. Announced in February 2014, the game was released for iOS in April 2014 and for Android in June 2014. Windo ...
'' (2014) and the shooter ''
Hitman: Sniper'' (2015). The commercial success of the latter and the critical success of the former led to two additional titles in the ''Go'' series: ''
Lara Croft Go
''Lara Croft Go'' is a turn-based puzzle video game in the ''Tomb Raider'' series. The player moves Lara Croft as a puzzle piece through a board game while avoiding obstacles and manipulating the environment. The developers distilled major seri ...
'' (2015), based on the ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...
'' series, and ''
Deus Ex Go
''Deus Ex Go'' is a 2016 turn-based puzzle video game in the ''Deus Ex'' series by Square Enix. The player uses a touchscreen to move Adam Jensen, a protagonist from the cyberpunk-themed series, as a puzzle piece through a board game while avo ...
'' (2016), based on the ''
Deus Ex
''Deus Ex'' is a series of role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technologies in a ...
'' series. It later added a
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based studio, Square Enix London Mobile.
Embracer Group
Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Gro ...
acquired Square Enix Montréal alongside several other Square Enix Europe properties in August 2022 to form CDE Entertainment. Square Enix Montréal and Square Enix London Mobile were briefly rebranded Onoma in October 2022 before the studio closed the next month.
History
Formation (2011)
Video game developer
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
announced the opening of Square Enix Montréal on November 21, 2011, aiming to debut operations in 2012 with 150 employees headed by Lee Singleton, a former general manager at
Square Enix London Studios
Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
. The new studio was founded to create
high-production quality (AAA) titles within Square Enix intellectual properties. Its first project was a new
''Hitman'' series game for
home consoles
A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...
, to be co-developed with another Square Enix subsidiary,
IO Interactive
IO Interactive A/S (IOI) is a Danish video game developer based in Copenhagen, best known for creating and developing the ''Hitman'' and ''Kane and Lynch'' franchises. IO Interactive's most recent game is ''Hitman 3'', which was released in Jan ...
of Denmark, which created the series and was at work on ''
Hitman: Absolution'' (2012). Square Enix Montréal began with four staff members—Singleton and three developers from IO Interactive—but planned to grow beyond the single ''Hitman'' team to have multiple concurrent projects with up to 150 employees. Singleton planned a slow design process, with no rush to production. The studio also received support from the
Quebecois government.
''Go'' series (2013–2016)
Spurred by company-wide changes beginning late the next year and Square Enix's decision to designate a studio to focus on mobile games, Square Enix Montréal pivoted to mobile game development with an emphasis on the ''Hitman'' franchise and tablet computers in June 2013. Patrick Naud became its director. The studio quietly cancelled its work on the ''Hitman'' console game, while IO Interactive assumed
a similar project. Many employees left to work on AAA titles elsewhere and those who stayed became vested in the ethos of a smaller studio, leaving their siloed specialty areas to work as generalists across specialties, as necessitated by smaller teams. The company spent two weeks designing proposals for mobile ''Hitman'' series games, which led to ''
Hitman Go
''Hitman Go'' is a turn-based puzzle video game developed by Square Enix Montréal and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. Announced in February 2014, the game was released for iOS in April 2014 and for Android in June 2014. Windo ...
'' (2014) and ''
Hitman: Sniper'' (2015). The former began the ''Go'' series of highly manicured,
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
, board game-style
puzzle video games
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion.
H ...
, while the latter more closely resembled a traditional mobile game in which players
competitively shoot targets through the
scope
Scope or scopes may refer to:
People with the surname
* Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer
* John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution
Arts, media, and entertainment
* Cinem ...
of a
sniper rifle
A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...
. Though ''Hitman Go'' and the subsequent ''
Lara Croft Go
''Lara Croft Go'' is a turn-based puzzle video game in the ''Tomb Raider'' series. The player moves Lara Croft as a puzzle piece through a board game while avoiding obstacles and manipulating the environment. The developers distilled major seri ...
'' (2015, based on the ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...
'' series) received awards, critical acclaim, and modest sales, ''Hitman: Sniper'' became the studio's
revenue generator.
This work was considered novel in an industry where major companies created free-to-play games rather than small games with small teams. But the two styles of mobile games—opposite ends of indie and AAA development cultures—
clashed, and divided the studio's internal identity. They intended to resolve this conflict with ''
Deus Ex Go
''Deus Ex Go'' is a 2016 turn-based puzzle video game in the ''Deus Ex'' series by Square Enix. The player uses a touchscreen to move Adam Jensen, a protagonist from the cyberpunk-themed series, as a puzzle piece through a board game while avo ...
'' (2016), whose development team was split evenly between the ''Go'' series and ''Sniper'' staff and intended to mix the "tight, hand-crafted feel" of the former with the "ongoing updates" of the latter. The studio employed about 40 people at the time of ''Deus Ex Go'' release, who clustered together in a space once designed for several hundred people. The company has not released information on its future plans, though based on Square Enix's philosophy of each studio covering its own niche well, they are expected to continue making mobile games. Recent hires include indie developers from games including ''
Hyper Light Drifter
''Hyper Light Drifter'' is a 2D action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine. The game pays homage to 8-bit and 16-bit games, and is considered by its lead developer Alx Preston as a combination of '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pa ...
'' and ''
Fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
''.
Square Enix Montréal's ''Go'' series was released to high praise. Ryan McCaffrey of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' wrote that the first two releases were the "smartest" mobile games of any console franchise. Sam Loveridge of ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' summarized the series as immensely successful. The games use simple touchscreen
gameplay mechanics
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...
to move the main characters from each screen around a minimalist board game-like puzzle. With each entry, Square Enix Montréal distills and reinterprets the parent series' essential gameplay elements for the board game format. ''Hitman Go'' was released in 2014, ''
Lara Croft Go
''Lara Croft Go'' is a turn-based puzzle video game in the ''Tomb Raider'' series. The player moves Lara Croft as a puzzle piece through a board game while avoiding obstacles and manipulating the environment. The developers distilled major seri ...
'' (of the ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...
'' series) in 2015, and ''Deus Ex Go'' of the
''Deus Ex'' series in 2016. The studio released documentary videos on their ''Go'' series development process. The ''Go'' games reached a wider audience than ''Sniper'', and half of their players found the games through App Store or friend recommendations. The studio partially attributes their success with the series to their unique position of being able to work with major franchises with the resources of a larger company, while retaining the smaller size and flexibility of an independent development studio. They also viewed the critical response to ''Deus Ex Go'' as an indication that the studio had thrice succeeded in its intention to translate an older console intellectual property to mobile with its own personality. Square Enix Montréal saw their work as the converging intersection between
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
's
AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
tradition and reputable mobile games.
Free-to-play games, acquisition, and closure (2016–2022)
![Onoma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Onoma.svg)
After 2016, Square Enix Montréal turned its focus toward
free-to-play
Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
games and began a "2.0" business phase. It grew its headcount from 40 to 170 by March 2021 and intended to expand further. The developer announced ''Hitman Sniper Assassins'' in March 2021 and an
augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...
adaptation of ''
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...
'', licensed from
Taito
is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...
. In January 2018, ''
Hyper Light Drifter
''Hyper Light Drifter'' is a 2D action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine. The game pays homage to 8-bit and 16-bit games, and is considered by its lead developer Alx Preston as a combination of '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pa ...
'' designer Teddy Dief left Square Enix Montréal after the project he was working on was canceled. In June 2018, Naud stated that the studio had disconnected work on the ''Go'' series. He said that the series "was a great adventure for us as a studio", but that the premium mobile returns were disappointing, saying "it's sad to see that our games are only played by a small slither of the population because of the price point". The studio planned to continue to work in the mobile space, with Naud stating their intent to make "high-end, high-quality pristine mobile experiences" from either existing or new intellectual property. In October 2021, Square Enix founded another mobile studio, Square Enix London Mobile, which became part of Square Enix Montréal. Also directed by Naud, Square Enix London Mobile focused on publishing and external development, with franchise partnerships in the ''Tomb Raider'' and ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' properties.
In May 2022,
Embracer Group
Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Gro ...
announced an agreement to acquire several assets of Square Enix Europe, including Square Enix Montréal, for . At the time, the studio had 160 employees: 144 in Montreal and 16 from London. Anticipating a rebranding once detached from Square Enix, Square Enix Montréal established the "Rebrand Squad" to find a new name that was easy to pronounce in both English and French. After exploring 165 names, they chose "Onoma",
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
for "name", to reflect the studio's open possibilities. "Studio Onoma" was
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
ed by August 2022. Embracer Group's acquisition was completed on August 26, 2022, with the assets being held under CDE Entertainment. Square Enix Montréal and Square Enix London Mobile were collectively rebranded as Onoma in October. On November 1, 2022, Embracer Group and CDE Entertainment announced the impending closure of Onoma and CDE Entertainment's internal
quality assurance
Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...
team, affecting 200 employees. CDE Entertainment's director, Phil Rogers, cited growth opportunities with AAA games developed at its other studios,
Eidos-Montréal
Eidos-Montréal is a Canadian video game developer based in Montreal and part of Embracer Group. The studio was founded by Stéphane D'Astous in 2007 under SCi Entertainment. It became part of Square Enix Europe in 2009 and CDE Entertainment in ...
and
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the '' Gex'', ''Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy L ...
. Onoma's staff were informed that some of them would be transferred to Eidos-Montréal. On November 23, 4 of its games, Deus Ex Go, Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes, Arena Battle Champions, and Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, were announced to be shutdown in January 2023.
Games developed
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Video games
2011 establishments in Quebec
2022 mergers and acquisitions
Canadian companies disestablished in 2022
Canadian companies established in 2011
Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies
Companies based in Montreal
Defunct companies of Quebec
Defunct video game companies of Canada
Embracer Group
Square Enix
Video game companies disestablished in 2022
Video game companies established in 2011
Video game development companies