Tech Blog

[#1]

On Monday, July 6 in downtown Toronto, Ubisoft made an historic announcement to open a full development studio in Toronto, Ontario.  Opening up for business in Ontario is a first for the company, and will add to their already sizeable presence in Canada.  Ubisoft owns a massive complex in Montreal employing almost 2,000 people, a Quebec City studio, as well as Vancouver-based Action Pants (a recent acquistion now known as Ubisoft Vancouver).

As a treat to everyone here at the Tech Blog, I was invited down to the cozy Isabel Bader Theatre to witness this landmark announcement. The press conference lasted for a full 18 minutes and I taped every moment of it.

Cédric Orvoine, Ubisoft's Director of Communications, kicked off the press conference and warmed the croud. The remaining speakers (in order) were the Honourable Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Premier Dalton McGuinty, and Yannis Mallat, CEO Ubisoft Montreal.

Enjoy this exclusive look at the Ubisoft Toronto conference (and check below for a write-up with more details):

PART ONE

PART TWO

The new Toronto studio is expected to result in the creation of 800 net new jobs in the province over the next decade. The government of Ontario is putting a lot of weight behind this investment by contributing $263 million over ten years and Ubisoft's investment will be over half a billion dollars.

This is an amazing boon for Toronto and the province of Ontario which has been attempting to woo developers into the province with massive tax breaks and incentives .  Ontario is already the home of industry giants such as Silicon Knights, Koei, Disney Interactive, and Digital Extremes.

This strategic move by Ubisoft is sure to heat up the Canadian gaming industry which reached an astounding $2 billion in sales in 2008.  And that's not even taking into consideration the global impact of the games made right here at home.  In fact, for the fiscal 2008-09 year, Ubisoft generated sales of €1.058 billion.

Without a doubt Canada is a global gaming powerhouse and Ubisoft Toronto is sure to strengthen our position. If recent research is accurate then Quebec's gaming industry is the sixth largest in the world , with BC not too far off. Now that Ontario is handing out very attractive incentives, you have to wonder which major developer will come next ( perhaps it's EA? )

Ubisoft Toronto will be overseen by Yannis Mallet, CEO of Ubisoft Montreal and has stated the new studio will work on Triple-A games and will emulate the proven business model for which Ubisoft is known. The Toronto studio will also be reaching out and collaborating with Toronto's local film community to enhance video game production and extend Ubisoft's convergence strategy. This plan, which involves extending the Ubisoft brand to other complementary platforms and mediums, includes books, comics, short films and other products.

Yannis also made mention during the press conference of all the great franchises the company has been responsible for including such multi-million selling franchises as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, Red Steel, Rayman, Rayman Raving Rabbids, and Far Cry.

When asked when we'll start seeing games from this new studio, Yannis had to offer: "hopefully, sooner than later".  I, for one, can't wait.

Message Edited by PaulH on 07-07-2009 10:58 PM

Message Edited by Laura on 08-21-2009 02:31 PM

[#2]

That's a great news! Can't wait to know what their first game will be.

With Ubisoft Montreal becoming the largest games studio in the world (if it's not already the biggest one) and now a new studio in Toronto, who knows, who know, Canada might be the new "Japan" of gaming in a couple of years .

As a side note, if Deus Ex 3, which is developed at Eidos Montreal, is a success (and I hope it will be) this might very well increase the size of that "small" studio.

Gaming has a very bright future in Canada .

[#3]

@ Morfanos

You're right, this is great news.  800 new jobs in Toronto!  Considering the economy and all the bad news we've become used to, this is refreshing to hear.  The video game industry is booming and only getting bigger each year.  Canada already is a global leader in the video game industry and this move by Ubisoft is only going to cement our position.  Canada is the new Japan?  Maybe just maybe, we'll see.

[#4]

800 new jobs for the next decade in Toronto, another 1000 for Montreal in the next 4 years, Ubisoft is really expending in Canada. So yeah, I really think, we might become the new "Japan" of gaming . At least that's what I'd like to see.

I read the article you linked(and wrote) in nextgenplayer. Did they have statistics for individual cities? I'd bet Montreal and Vancouver would be pretty high on such a list.

[#5]

@ Morfanos

That particular report didn't breakdown the numbers by individual city, but the ESA Canada produced a good report that does.  According to the report here is the total employment % breakdown:

Vancouver - 42%

Montreal - 32%

Other - 17%

GTA - 9%

The full PDF report can be found here:

http://www.theesa.ca/ResearchReport09.pdf

[#6]

Thanks for the link, it's an interesting report (Yes, I did read it from top to bottom ).

[#7]

@ Morfanos

You're very welcome for the link, and it's nice to hear you read it from top to bottom.  It's a lengthy, but very informative overview of the Canadian video game industry.