New AAA D&D Game on the Horizon
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Last year, Tuque Games released Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. They then followed the game up with the Echoes of the Blood War expansion. And now, having rebranded into Invoke Studios, the team is working on a new AAA D&D game under the direct guidance of Wizards of the Coast.
At the moment, pretty much all we know about this project is that it's going to be using the Unreal 5 engine. Here's a press release with some extra details:
Invoke Studios: a new name in Triple A video games in Montreal
Wizards of the Coast studio is developing a game from the legendary Dungeons & Dragons franchise
Montreal, October 12th, 2022 – The Montreal-based video games developer Invoke Studios has just launched. Incorporating the team that worked under the name of Tuque Games, a company opened in 2012 and recently purchased by the American publisher Wizards of the Coast, Invoke has launched in Canada’s vibrant AAA development scene with an original Dungeons & Dragons inspired game under development.
Wizards of the Coast is responsible for some of the most prestigious international brands of fantasy games. Among others, its portfolio includes Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. Dungeons & Dragons is one of the largest role-playing games in the world with more than 50 million people around the world having played.
An autonomous and independent studio
Located in the Saint-Henri district, Invoke enjoys the autonomy of an independent studio, but with access to the vast resources that are the result of belonging to a great global family. “We have our own culture and our own specific work methods,” explains Dominic Guay, Vice President and General Manager. “We value the autonomy of each team member, so that each person can express his or her talents in order to have the maximum productive impact on our games. In that way, we are not just the Montreal division of an international group. We will also continue to put forth the ideas and the direction of the game universes we expand and create.”
The studio is currently working on a AAA game derived from the Dungeons & Dragons universe and developed on the Unreal 5 engine. Invoke is one of the major Montreal studios concentrating on AAA fantasy games and the only one in Canada to do so with Wizards of The Coast.
“We have the largest and most popular brand of fantasy role-playing games in Dungeons & Dragons,” says Guay. “Such a brand, with 50 years of history behind it, inspires developers and gives us enormous creative freedom. Our focus is on high-quality AAA games and we will have the means to achieve our ends.”
A rapidly growing team
A well-known figure in the industry, Dominic Guay worked for more than 20 years at Ubisoft, where he contributed to several brands such as Splinter Cell and Far Cry. In particular, he directed the creation of the worldwide success Watch Dogs.
The current Invoke team is comprised of 80 individuals, a mix of talented young people and veterans who have contributed to numerous successes in the industry in Montreal. The studio has seen consistent growth over the last year by welcoming several key talents. Guay hopes to grow the group to more than 200 employees by 2025.
“Our mission is to create, within a positive environment, fantasy games which will delight players.” This mission is accomplished on a daily basis in a context of respect, humility and autonomy, all of which are fundamental values at Invoke.
