Ubisoft opens new Chinese studio

Ubisoft has opened a brand new studio in China that it hopes will grow to boast some 200 staff within the next 12 months.

The French publisher has promoted Richard Tsao, senior producer at nearby Ubisoft Shanghai, to head up the new outfit as managing director.

Tsao will oversee the studio as initially focuses on internal outsourcing, but in time will be entrusted with development of online games for PC, console and handhelds. The studio will be based in Chengdu, Sichuan.

The opening of the studio was celebrated with a special ceremony attended by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot plus executives from the Chengdu’s ‘Hi-Tech’ business zone.

Ubisoft was one of the first publishers to head into games development in China, when it opened Ubisoft Shanghai in 1996 – in time that studio has grown to become the second-largest internal team at the company.

The company said it chose Chengdu for its new studio due to the high volume of programming graduates – some 35,000 – coming out of local colleges each year.

"The success of our studio in Shanghai, which has been further confirmed with the launch of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PlayStation 3 system, has encouraged us to extend our growth in China," said Christine Burgess-Quémard, executive director, Worldwide Studios at Ubisoft.

"We are convinced that Chengdu offers the perfect environment for our expansion, offering a great number of highly educated and talented people."