Today, Ubisoft announced that it plans to increase its creative capacities in India with the upcoming opening of Ubisoft Mumbai. The new studio will participate in co-development of AAA games for some of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, and expect to add at least 100 new talents to Ubisoft’s creative workforce in their two first years of operation.
The new studio will plug into Ubisoft’s cross-studio collaboration approach, in which Ubisoft studios from across the globe work together on AAA game development and live operations, with each studio providing distinct contributions based on their areas of expertise. Ubisoft is already present in India (Pune) and Mumbai studio will help, the company believes, in reinforcing and consolidating Ubisoft’s game development ecosystem.
Ubisoft has been in the country for a while now. Recently, other global names from the gaming industry like Riot Games and Yozoo Games have also set shops in India. With the gaming market predicted to grow in the country, Ubisoft seems to be strengthening its presence. The new studio will be located at Hiranandani Business Park, in Powai and is expected to be operational from June.
“This year marks the tenth anniversary of Ubisoft’s presence in India. Our commitment to India is now strengthened by the new expansions in Mumbai. Mumbai being one of the biggest cities in the world, the opening of a new studio here will allow us to reach out to both national and international talents. By opening up to this wide high-potential talent pool, I’m confident Mumbai studio will help us attract more creative profiles and expand the diversity of our internal creative force,” said Ubisoft worldwide studios executive director Christine Burgess-Quémard. “I am proud to see how our production presence is growing, and strongly believe that it is by investing and expanding our knowledge and expertise internally that we will be able to keep delivering the high quality entertainment experiences of the future.”
Ubisoft Mumbai will report directly to Jean-Philippe Pieuchot, managing director of the Pune studio. The Ubisoft Mumbai team will work closely with Ubisoft Pune, collaborating on the development of Ubisoft’s AAA console games. Several senior team members from Pune will also join the new studio in Mumbai to build the local core team and help new recruits to ramp up quickly. The studio is looking to recruit up to 100 talents within two years with a focus on hiring programmers and artists. Ubisoft Mumbai will also collaborate with the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai by becoming clients of IIT-B Research Park Foundation to work on research topics with a focus mainly on Machine Learning & AI and Intuit Lab for Game Art, both schools known to train the brightest talents from India.
“I’m very excited to see our presence growing in the country. Opening a studio in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic cities will open the doors to a new pool of talents,” said Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai MD Jean-Philippe Pieuchot. “Our ambition is to contribute towards the development of the Indian video game ecosystem by partnering closely with top schools and institutions.”