Ubisoft Montreal greenlights March of Giants as MOBA graveyard already claims Paragon, Infinite Crisis and Heroes of the Storm
Summary
Ubisoft Montreal opened the Pioneer playtest for March of Giants on October 7.
The playtest runs through October 18, exclusively on Steam.
Xavier Marquis calls the hybrid a conviction bet despite the MOBA genre's failure history.
"It was not our question, it was not a business decision."
01
Marquis grounds the greenlight in personal genre passion
Marquis, a former Siege lead, built the hybrid from his own MOBA and RTS history.
He says the Montreal team knew the odds, citing failed MOBA and battle royale projects.
Marquis says the deciding question was never whether Ubisoft could enter the business.
He frames the mandate as having something different to say for players.
02
The MOBA genre's failure record validates Marquis's caution
League of Legends and Dota 2 control the large majority of the MOBA market.
Warner Bros-backed Infinite Crisis and Epic Games' Paragon both shut down after launch.
Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm underperformed despite its Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft IP.
Dota 2's International prize pool fell $35 million year on year, signaling genre aging.
03
Siege's own history shows doubters can be wrong
"I remember before we shipped Rainbow Six Siege, I read an article that said 'everything has been designed and invented for the shooter, it's done.'"
Siege went on to build a tactical niche distinct from that era's arcade shooters.
March of Giants reuses the playbook, staffed largely by Siege alumni.
Valve's Deadlock, a shooter-infused MOBA, already draws tens of thousands of daily players.
04
The project's success metric remains undefined
March of Giants has no confirmed Early Access date, listed only as "TBD."
The Pioneer Points reward system funnels players toward that undated Early Access launch.
Ubisoft has disclosed no revenue or retention targets tied to the project's genre bet.
"It's impossible to tell at this point if March of Giants will have a similar impact to Deadlock."
What this means
For Investors & VC: Require stage-gated retention and revenue thresholds before funding any MOBA-hybrid pitch.
For Service Vendors: Pitch server load-testing, QA and localization to Ubisoft Montreal ahead of Early Access.
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