Ubisoft to transform Toronto studio ‘into dev giant’

Ubisoft is planning on transforming its Toronto branch into a studio giant, the publisher has claimed.

As reported by the Financial Post, the company said it is looked to quadruple the number of developers from 210 to 800 over the next ten years.

As well as greatly expanding its headcount, the studio could also see investment totalling $763 million.

The publisher said it was looking to invest more than $500 million into the Ontario branch, whilst $263 million has reportedly already been pledged by the provincial government in 2009 to fund a new Ubisoft studio.

Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat said that the Toronto studio is taking on seasoned staff from the publisher’s other branches to help kick-start the developer.

“We’ve been sending over experienced, senior people from Ubisoft Montreal as a guarantee that they immediately get traction and speed and knowledge in place so that they can recruit the best people,” said Mallat.

“You can’t hope to have a studio up and running in one year by just hiring junior people.”

Ubisoft Toronto, headed up by Jade Raymond, is currently at work on developing a new Splinter Cell title, originally created at the company’s Montreal studio.