Watch Dogs game creator joins NetEase to develop new IP

NetEase continues scoring top talent to fill out its international game studios.

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Watch Dogs creator Jonathan Morin has joined NetEase Games Montreal, the studio today announced. Morin not only established the concepts behind the Watch Dogs franchise but also served as creative director on both Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2 at Ubisoft. Now Morin is serving as a creative director to help form new IPs for NetEase's growing content label.

NetEase's Montreal division is focused on research and development, and published of Naraka Bladepoint's during its global worldwide launch (Naraka remains one of NetEase's most important games).

"I am excited to announce my new adventure as Creative Director at NetEase Games Montreal. I am privileged to join a passionate and talented new team to create our own IP. This is the beginning of something special for me and I cannot wait to say more," Morin said.

It's possible that Morin could be helping develop some sort of open world third-person game with exploration akin to Watch Dogs, but it's hard to tell at this point. Morin had also worked on FarCry while at Ubisoft. NetEase continues expanding past live games into more premium games markets.

Morin's arrival punctuates NetEase's major push into AAA gaming. The billion-dollar live game operator has opened multiple studios with veteran game developers at the helm including:

• Jar of Sparks, run by Xbox veteran Jerry Hook
• Nagoshi Studio, helmed by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi
• Acquisition of Quantic Dream
• Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who left Capcom after 27 years
• $100 million investment into Bungie in 2018