Ubisoft Becomes First Major Publisher to Open Studio in Middle East

[Greg Tito]

Ubisoft Becomes First Major Publisher to Open Studio in Middle East

The studio aims to create 100 jobs in Abu Dhabi for videogame developers.

Videogames do not have a strong presence in a region more known for conflict than creativity. But that hasn't stopped the city of Abu Dhabi from attempting to become a cultural hub for the Middle East. As part of the initiative called the twofour54 Media Zone Authority, Ubisoft will become the first foreign videogame publisher to open a studio in Abu Dhabi this December. The studio will hire and train local talent through a sister "gaming academy" that aims to get people up to speed on making videogames. Over the next five years, the French publisher plans to hire more than 100 developers to create online games that will specifically appeal to the region's cultural mores as well as a worldwide audience.

"We are excited by the partnership with twofour54. Their commitment to developing a strong regional gaming industry and their knowledge of the region were the perfect foundation on which to continue building our development teams," said Christine Burgess-Quémard from Ubisoft. "The demographics and the pool of skilled technical talent in the Middle East and North Africa region are key factors that will contribute to the success of this new studio."

twofour54 - so named because Abu Dhabi is located at latitude 24 north, longitude 54 east - has a beautiful campus in the city and the technological infrastructure there has attracted other media companies such as Fox Intl Channels, CNN, BBC, Financial Times, Viacom, C Sky Pictures, Thomson Reuters, Cartoon Network, and Bloomberg. Ubisoft joins this list with its new studio, and here's hoping that we start to see more games made by and for groups that traditionally don't receive a fair shake in the rest of the industry such as Muslims and Arabs in general.

Allah knows, they need it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_269/8044-Muslims-in-My-Monitor].

Source: twofour54 [http://media.twofour54.com/en/news/news/ubisoft-to-open-development-studio-at-twofour54-abu-dhabi.html]

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[wooty]

Abu Dhabis not really foreign, its about as western as you can get....without being in the west....but in the east.....near the middle......I know what I mean.

But still, a step forward none-the-less.

 

[AJax_21]

I'm surprised that EA or Activision haven't made the move first. FIFA and Call of Duty are insanely popular here. Good for Ubisoft and whoever they hire nonetheless.

 

[The Great JT]

Glad to see someone taking a step forward for progress. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Middle East can cook up for gaming.

 

[The Critic]

I actually feel rather optimistic about this. I'm curious to see what they come up with.

 

[Scrustle]

Interesting. Pretty cool to see new countries coming in to the gaming industry, especially with a big international publisher backing them. I wonder what they will create. To be honest, I don't really have high hopes right now. To me Abu Dhabi seems like an area of excess for the sake of it. If they make a game the same way they make their city it'll likely be something that's big and very shiny, but lacks real artistic inspiration or originality. I'd love to be proven wrong though, it's always good to have more good games from around the world.

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

I wonder what kind of games we can expect from this new branch...

 

[S-Unleashed]

Well this is some good news. It's not much but it's something right?

 

[AJax_21]

Interesting. Pretty cool to see new countries coming in to the gaming industry, especially with a big international publisher backing them. I wonder what they will create. To be honest, I don't really have high hopes right now. To me Abu Dhabi seems like an area of excess for the sake of it. If they make a game the same way they make their city it'll likely be something that's big and very shiny, but lacks real artistic inspiration or originality. I'd love to be proven wrong though, it's always good to have more good games from around the world.

Big and shiny with no substance?! I think you're talking about Dubai here lol. Abu Dhabi, both people and government, are much more modest in comparison.

 

[Scrustle]

Interesting. Pretty cool to see new countries coming in to the gaming industry, especially with a big international publisher backing them. I wonder what they will create. To be honest, I don't really have high hopes right now. To me Abu Dhabi seems like an area of excess for the sake of it. If they make a game the same way they make their city it'll likely be something that's big and very shiny, but lacks real artistic inspiration or originality. I'd love to be proven wrong though, it's always good to have more good games from around the world.

Big and shiny with no substance?! I think you're talking about Dubai here lol. Abu Dhabi, both people and government, are much more modest in comparison.

Oh right. I get mixed up with those 2 places. Oh well, that just means were more likely to get a good game.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

Sounds dicey, but I wish them the best in spreading the love of video games to the east.

 

[dudeman0001]

I'd love to see what kind of games come from here. Maybe modern war games from the other side of the fence? I'd play that!

 

[Twilight_guy]

Good for them. I live in California so like every company ever has a headquaters near me but It'd be nice if things could be a bit more evenly distributed.

 

[Micalas]

First there was Ubisoft Montreal. Now, witness the greatness that is Ubisoft Bomb Crater