UBISOFT EXPANDS IN INDIA

Ubisoft has announced a brand new studio — Ubisoft Mumbai to open its doors in June

It’s no secret that India is considered one of the largest gaming markets in the world, at least in terms of potential. The shift from mobile to console and PC is expected to be massive in the coming years with publishers and hardware companies eagerly waiting on the edge. However, with the current popularity of mobile games, we’ve seen mobile development make huge leaps forward in India, with scores of studios around the country however most still lack the quality that you’d expect in such a huge market. Big name publishers and developers have still not really established themselves in India with the exception of Ubisoft who, up until now only had a small studio in Pune that pretty much did support work for their fringe titles.

However that’s all a thing of the past now; Ubisoft has announced a brand new studio — Ubisoft Mumbai that’s set to open its doors in June that will in fact work on AAA projects with their primary studios. Ubisoft Mumbai will be partnering with the IIT to research topics on machine learning and AI as well providing a comprehensive four- year Game Design Art programme in collaboration with Inuit Lab.

“Our ambition is to contribute towards the development of the Indian videogame ecosystem by partnering closely with top schools and institutions,” said Jean- Philippe Pieuchot, managing director for Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai.

Ubisoft Mumbai is a huge leap forward for game development in India that might soon see India contribute more than just art and “grunt” work for major titles. The studio will be hiring up to 100 developers over the next two years. Hopefully this isn’t just a development push and leads to Ubisoft concentrating more on the Indian market a little more in the coming few years.