Almost a decade ago, three friends at Eden Games came up with an idea for a new genre of racing game. Eight years ago, those three friends founded Ivory Tower, a development studio situated in Lyon, France. And last year, having convinced Ubisoft of the potential of their project from the very start, that game came to life in The Crew, a massive open-world driving game. Development on the game was led by Ivory Tower, working in collaboration with several Ubisoft studios. The Crew has since topped more than 3 million players worldwide, and 2015 also marks the expansion of the experience with the release of The Crew Wild Run.
But 2015 will be a memorable year for the studio for another important reason: the Ivory Tower team is now officially part of the Ubisoft family. After several years of successful collaboration, Ubisoft is excited to be integrating the studio's expertise into its global network of talents. The 100 team members who work at the studio have developed a recognized expertise in driving, building massive open worlds and creating games with strong online and "games as a service" components, all of which will be huge benefits for Ubisoft as a whole.
Ahmed Boukhelifa, Managing Director of the studio, is excited about the latest move for the studio:
"We've always enjoyed a very positive relationship with Ubisoft. Working together on The Crew, and celebrating its success, made us both understand that we have huge potential in continuing to work together in the future. By joining Ubisoft, the team at Ivory Tower will continue to benefit from Ubisoft's infrastructure, support, tools, technology and vision. In return, we will contribute our own expertise to the broader Ubisoft story."
The team in Lyon continues to focus on supporting The Crew, and is excited to deliver even more fun and wild rides to the community with the release of The Crew Wild Run on November 17th.
