Confirming part of an earlier report, Ubisoft announces the acquisition of THQ Montreal along with the publishing rights to South Park: The Stick of Truth, seemingly in spite of the contention of South Park Digital Studios that the rights to the game are not transferrable. It is apparently not clear if this marks designer Patrice Desilets' return to Ubisoft after a a departure that lead to some litigation. Here's word:

Today, Ubisoft announced the acquisition of THQ Montreal as well as the publishing rights for the upcoming South Park: The Stick of Truth video game, being developed externally by Obsidian.

"This deal adds experienced developers to our internal creative teams at a key moment in the cycle of the video game industry," said Yannis Mallat, president of Ubisoft Montreal.

THQ Montreal In addition to the team at THQ Montreal, Ubisoft also acquired a new, yet-to-be announced IP in development at the studio. THQ Montreal will join Ubisoft's development teams, already the second-largest in-house development staff in the world with 26 studios in 19 countries and more than 6,250 people dedicated to video game production.

South Park: The Stick of Truth South Park: The Stick of Truth is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, and is scheduled for release in calendar 2013.

This acquisition has no material impact on Ubisoft's current fiscal year (2012/13).