Ubisoft
Encyclopedia
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. (icon ; )
is a major French
video game publisher
and developer
, with headquarters in Montreuil
, France
. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.
As of November 2011, it is the third largest independent game publisher in Europe
, and the third largest in the United States
. The company's largest development studio is Ubisoft Montreal
, which in 2011 employed approximately 1,700 people. Yves Guillemot, a founding brother, was the chairman and CEO
. As for 2008–2009, Ubisoft's revenue was €1.058 billion, reaching the 1 billion euro
milestone for the first time in its history. Ubisoft has created its own film division called Ubisoft Motion Pictures which will create shows and films based on its games.
in France
(Brittany
). Yves Guillemot soon made deals with Electronic Arts
, Sierra On-Line, and MicroProse
to distribute their games in France. By the end of the decade, Ubisoft began expanding to other markets, including the United States
, the United Kingdom
, and Germany
.
In the early 1990 years, Ubisoft initiated its in-house game development program which led to the 1994 opening of a studio in Montreuil
, France, which later became their headquarters. Ubisoft became a publicly traded company in 1996 and continued to expand to offices around the globe, opening locations in Shanghai
and Montreal
.
In 2000, Ubisoft acquired Red Storm Entertainment
.
In February 2001, they acquired Düsseldorf, Germany based Blue Byte Software
.
In March 2001, Gores Technology Group sold The Learning Company
's entertainment division (which includes games originally published by Brøderbund Software, Mattel
, Mindscape
and Strategic Simulations, Inc.
) to them. The sale included the rights to IP
s such as the Myst
and Prince of Persia
series.
In October 2001, they acquired Gamebusters and moved them to the German Offices.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ubisoft committed itself to online games by getting behind Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
, The Matrix Online
, and the Europe
an and Chinese
operation of EverQuest
. The publisher established ubi.com as its online division. However, in February 2004, Ubisoft cancelled the online portion of Uru and backed out of the publishing deal on The Matrix Online. Nevertheless, a mere week later, the company announced its acquisition of Wolfpack Studios
, developer of Shadowbane
.
In December 2004, a rival game corporation Electronic Arts
purchased a 19.9% stake in the firm, an action Ubisoft referred to as "hostile" on EA's part.
In March 2005, Ubisoft acquired part of MC2-Microïds (Microïds Canada) and integrated it into Ubisoft Montreal
.
In July 2006 Ubisoft also bought the Driver
franchise from Atari
for a sum of €19 million (USD$24 million) in cash for the franchise, technology rights, and most asset. Additionally, though Ubisoft is not acquiring the studio outright, the members of Driver developer Reflections Interactive became employees of Ubisoft. As a result, Reflections Interactive was subsequently renamed Ubisoft Reflections.
On 11 April 2007, Ubisoft announced that it had acquired German game developer Sunflowers
, followed by an acquisition of Japan
ese developer Digital Kids that November.
Ubisoft is also responsible for publishing famous franchises produced by other important studios for some specific platforms, such as Resident Evil 4
for PC
, which is a Capcom
production, and Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon
for PlayStation 2
and Harvest Moon Online, which are Marvelous Interactive productions.
On 8 July 2008, Ubisoft made the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, a Montreal-based studio renowned for its expertise in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising. Created over 15 years ago, Hybride employs 100 team members. The studio’s many projects include such innovative films as 300, Frank Miller’s Sin City, Avatar and the Spy Kids series.
On 10 November 2008, Ubisoft acquired Massive Entertainment
from Activision
.
In 2009 Ubisoft Inc. acquired the domain Imaginetown.com from S. J. Crowley, writer, illustrator, former Walt Disney Imagineer and creator of The Ghostniks Haunted Adventure Series.
in 2009, Ubisoft launched the Uplay network, which is activated either in-game or via the Uplay website. Uplay allows players to connect with other gamers, and to earn rewards based on achievements in Uplay enabled games, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stating that "the more you play, the more free goods you will be able to have".
for the Wii
that detects the movement of the gamer to play games like Your Shape
and Racquet Sports. This technology was created by Ubisoft Barcelona, Spain.
copy protection technology that installs drivers on a system and is known to cause some hardware problems and compatibility issues with certain operating systems, starting with the game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
, which was not compatible with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
for quite some time, until a patch was released by the makers of StarForce. On 14 April 2006, Ubisoft confirmed that they would stop using StarForce on their games, citing complaints from customers.
In the February 2008 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)
, Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu asserted that Ubisoft had ceased to provide all Ubisoft titles to the EGM for any coverage purposes as a result of prior critical previews and negative reviews.
Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft, was quoted in the company's third-quarter 2008-09 sales report as saying "as some of our games did not meet the required quality levels to achieve their full potential, they need more sales promotions than anticipated."
In January 2010, Ubisoft has announced the Online Services Platform, which forces customers to not only authenticate on the first game launch, but to remain online continually while playing, with the game even pausing if network connection is lost. This makes it impossible to play the game offline, to resell it, and means that should Ubisoft's servers go down, the game will be unplayable. In February 2010, review versions of Assassin's Creed II and Settlers 7 for PC contained this new DRM scheme, confirming that it is already in use, and that instead of pausing the game, it would discard all progress since the last checkpoint or save game. However, subsequent patches for Assassin's Creed II allow the player to continue playing once their connection has been restored without lost progress.
In March 2010 outages to the Ubisoft DRM servers were reported, causing about 5% of legitimate buyers to be unable to play Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 games. Ubisoft initially said this was the result of the number of users attempting to access their servers to play, however Ubisoft later claimed that the real cause of the outages were denial-of-service attack
s.
The company's use of Aaron Priceman, also known as Mr. Caffeine, as a spokesman at E3 2011 was criticized for its reliance on witty remarks, inability to pronounce Tom Clancy (he pronounced it Tom Culancy), sexual innuendos and imitations of video game sound effects with little to no response from the audience.
In August 2011, Ubisoft released From Dust with DRM protection, contrary to previous statements that the game would not have any DRM related restrictions. Though a promise was made to remove it, after several months the DRM had still not been removed from many if not all copies of the game. Also, the game was widely described as "badly ported" from consoles. Joystiq reports that "paying players will find a capped frame rate, limited resolutions for the windowed mode, no anti-aliasing and plenty of bugs".
On 23rd of November the creative director of Ubisoft's 'I am Alive' Stanislas Mettra stated "We've heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them," said Mettra. "But are these people just making noise just because there's no version or because it's a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?". Mr Mettra also added "It’s hard because there’s so much piracy and so few people are paying for PC games that we have to precisely weigh it up against the cost of making it. Perhaps it will only take 12 guys three months to port the game to PC. It’s not a massive cost but it’s still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game, then it’s not worth it." The statements made by Mettra are fast becoming notorious.
Ubisoft Entertainment games
is a major French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
video game publisher
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
and developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
, with headquarters in Montreuil
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is the third most populous suburb of Paris...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries.
As of November 2011, it is the third largest independent game publisher in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and the third largest in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The company's largest development studio is Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec...
, which in 2011 employed approximately 1,700 people. Yves Guillemot, a founding brother, was the chairman and CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
. As for 2008–2009, Ubisoft's revenue was €1.058 billion, reaching the 1 billion euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
milestone for the first time in its history. Ubisoft has created its own film division called Ubisoft Motion Pictures which will create shows and films based on its games.
History
The five brothers of the Guillemot family founded Ubisoft as a computer game publisher in March 19861986 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
). Yves Guillemot soon made deals with Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, Sierra On-Line, and MicroProse
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
to distribute their games in France. By the end of the decade, Ubisoft began expanding to other markets, including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In the early 1990 years, Ubisoft initiated its in-house game development program which led to the 1994 opening of a studio in Montreuil
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is the third most populous suburb of Paris...
, France, which later became their headquarters. Ubisoft became a publicly traded company in 1996 and continued to expand to offices around the globe, opening locations in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
In 2000, Ubisoft acquired Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment
Ubisoft Red Storm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ubisoft Entertainment, specializing in video games and related merchandise, mainly based on the works of the writer Tom Clancy. The company develops and markets their own CD/DVD-ROM games...
.
In February 2001, they acquired Düsseldorf, Germany based Blue Byte Software
Blue Byte Software
Ubisoft Blue Byte is a video game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988. The company has produced popular titles like Battle Isle and The Settlers. In 2001, the company was purchased by Ubisoft.-History:...
.
In March 2001, Gores Technology Group sold The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
's entertainment division (which includes games originally published by Brøderbund Software, Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
, Mindscape
Mindscape
Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...
and Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
) to them. The sale included the rights to IP
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
s such as the Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
and Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
series.
In October 2001, they acquired Gamebusters and moved them to the German Offices.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ubisoft committed itself to online games by getting behind Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is an adventure video game developed by Cyan Worlds and published by Ubisoft. Released in 2003, the title is the fourth game in the Myst canon. Departing from previous games of the franchise, Uru takes place in the modern era and allows players to customize their onscreen...
, The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online
The Matrix Online was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions created by Richard Carroll. It was the official continuation of the storyline of the Matrix series of films. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered...
, and the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
operation of EverQuest
EverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
. The publisher established ubi.com as its online division. However, in February 2004, Ubisoft cancelled the online portion of Uru and backed out of the publishing deal on The Matrix Online. Nevertheless, a mere week later, the company announced its acquisition of Wolfpack Studios
Wolfpack Studios
Wolfpack Studios was a video game company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1999 by text-MUD veterans J. Todd Coleman, Josef Hall, James Nance, Robert Marsa and Patrick Blanton. Wolfpack's sole product was the fantasy MMORPG Shadowbane, with its accompanying two expansions...
, developer of Shadowbane
Shadowbane
Shadowbane was a free fantasy computer role-playing game created by Wolfpack Studios and published on March 25, 2003 by Ubisoft for Windows and Mac platforms. Originally commercial and subscription-driven, Shadowbane was launched in March 2003, and was the creation of text-MUD veterans J...
.
In December 2004, a rival game corporation Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
purchased a 19.9% stake in the firm, an action Ubisoft referred to as "hostile" on EA's part.
In March 2005, Ubisoft acquired part of MC2-Microïds (Microïds Canada) and integrated it into Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec...
.
In July 2006 Ubisoft also bought the Driver
Driver (series)
Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games developed by Reflections Interactive , and originally published by GT Interactive and later by Atari. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, driving, and third-person shooting in open world environments...
franchise from Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
for a sum of €19 million (USD$24 million) in cash for the franchise, technology rights, and most asset. Additionally, though Ubisoft is not acquiring the studio outright, the members of Driver developer Reflections Interactive became employees of Ubisoft. As a result, Reflections Interactive was subsequently renamed Ubisoft Reflections.
On 11 April 2007, Ubisoft announced that it had acquired German game developer Sunflowers
Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software
Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software GmbH was a German company that developed and published computer games. Sunflowers was based in Heusenstamm and was founded in 1993 by Adi Boiko, president of the company, and Wilhelm Hamrozi, CEO of the company...
, followed by an acquisition of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese developer Digital Kids that November.
Ubisoft is also responsible for publishing famous franchises produced by other important studios for some specific platforms, such as Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, which is a Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
production, and Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon
Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon
Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon, is a PlayStation Portable game that breaks many of the traditions established in the other Harvest Moon games and also for the game on PlayStation 2...
for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Harvest Moon Online, which are Marvelous Interactive productions.
On 8 July 2008, Ubisoft made the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, a Montreal-based studio renowned for its expertise in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising. Created over 15 years ago, Hybride employs 100 team members. The studio’s many projects include such innovative films as 300, Frank Miller’s Sin City, Avatar and the Spy Kids series.
On 10 November 2008, Ubisoft acquired Massive Entertainment
Massive Entertainment
Massive - A Ubisoft Studio is a Swedish video game company based in Malmö, Sweden. The company is fully owned by Ubisoft. They are best known for the Ground Control series of real-time tactics video games. They were acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002...
from Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
.
In 2009 Ubisoft Inc. acquired the domain Imaginetown.com from S. J. Crowley, writer, illustrator, former Walt Disney Imagineer and creator of The Ghostniks Haunted Adventure Series.
Studios
As the fourth largest video game company in the world as of 2009, Ubisoft studios employs the second largest amount of in-house development staff in the world and has several divisions and offices throughout the world. While some were founded by Ubisoft, others have been acquired over time:Current
- Ubisoft Annecy
- Ubisoft Bulgaria
- Ubisoft Casablanca
- Ubisoft Chengdu, started on 17 September 2007.
- Ubisoft Germany in Düsseldorf, Germany, started in 1995, acquired Gamebusters in October 2001 and merged employees.
- Blue Byte SoftwareBlue Byte SoftwareUbisoft Blue Byte is a video game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988. The company has produced popular titles like Battle Isle and The Settlers. In 2001, the company was purchased by Ubisoft.-History:...
in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988, acquired February 2001. - Related Designs Software GmbH, founded in January 1995, acquired a 30% stake in the company on 11 April 2007.
- Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software GmbH in HeusenstammHeusenstammHeusenstamm is a town of over 18,000 in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany.- Geography :- Location :The town lies on the river Bieber. Heusenstamm is one of 13 towns and communities in the Offenbach district...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, founded in 1993, acquired on 11 April 2007.
- Blue Byte Software
- Ubisoft India, started in 2008 after acquiring the Pune GameloftGameloftGameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
studio. Will focus on porting games to the current generation of handhelds. In Times Animage 2009 held at Pune it was disclosed by Ubisoft officials that the Pune Studio was developing its own games on DS, Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. - Ubisoft UkraineUbisoft UkraineUbisoft Ukraine is a Ukrainian video game developer based in Kiev, Ukraine. The company is owned and operated by Ubisoft. It is one Ubisoft's eastern European divisions, along with Ubisoft Poland, Ubisoft Romania, Ubisoft Craiova, and Ubisoft Sofia. The company opened its doors in 2008.-External...
, started 29 April 2008. - Ubisoft Massive in Malmö, Sweden, founded as Massive Entertainment in 1997, acquired from Vivendi GamesVivendi GamesVivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
on 10 November 2008. - Ubisoft Montpellier, current projects include Rayman OriginsRayman OriginsRayman Origins is a platform game developed and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. The game was released on November 15, 2011 in North America, November 24, 2011 in Australia and November 25, 2011 in Europe for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii....
, From DustFrom DustFrom Dust is a video game, designed by Eric Chahi and developed by Ubisoft Montpellier. Ubisoft described it as a 'spiritual heir' to Populous, a British game developed by Peter Molyneux and Bullfrog Productions in 1989. Announced on 14 June 2010 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo , Ubisoft...
, Beyond Good & Evil 2Beyond Good & Evil 2Beyond Good & Evil 2 , or BG&E2, is the sequel to the 2003 video game Beyond Good & Evil, currently in development by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. Michel Ancel, the creator of the original game, is back as lead designer of the sequel...
and Tintin: Secret of the UnicornThe Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (video game)The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a video game based on the film The Adventures of Tintin. It was released in Europe on 21 October 2011, and is scheduled to be released in North America on 6 December...
. Michel AncelMichel AncelMichel Ancel is a French video game designer for Ubisoft. He is best known for creating the Rayman franchise for which he was the lead designer for the first two games, and which as of 2008 has sold the most units for the publisher. He is also known for the cult favourite Beyond Good & Evil and...
is a developer for this division. - Ubisoft MontrealUbisoft MontrealUbisoft Montreal is a Canadian video game developer owned by French publisher Ubisoft.Ubisoft's North American studio is located in Montreal, Quebec...
, started in 1997 as Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., acquired the Canadian division of MicroidsMicroïdsMicroïds is a French software brand belonging to Anuman Interactive that publishes and develops video games. In recent years the company's collection of brands and game licenses has grown since being a part of MC2 France...
on 2 March 2005, eventually merged into this division.- Hybride TechnologiesHybride TechnologiesHybride, a division of Ubisoft, is a Canadian visual effects studio based out of Quebec. It has provided visual effects for over 50 films and, in 2008, was acquired by Ubisoft on July 8, 2008. -History:...
, acquired 8 July 2008. - QuazalQuazalQuazal Technologies is a private company founded in 1998. Once backed by institutional investors, it is now fully owned by its management team following a management buyout in July 2008....
, acquired in 4 November 2010.
- Hybride Technologies
- NadeoNadeoNadeo is a French video game developer, based in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris. They are the developers of the TrackMania, QuestMania, ShootMania and Virtual Skipper series of video games....
in Issy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
, Paris, France, founded in 2000. Acquired in 5 October 2009. - Ubisoft Nagoya, started in September 1996 as "Digital Kids". Acquired by Ubisoft in 2008.
- Ubisoft ParisUbisoft ParisUbisoft Paris is a French video game developer founded in 1986. It's also Ubisoft's headquarters. The studio is known for the Rayman, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Raving Rabbids and Just Dance video game series.-Games developed:...
, made games such as Rayman Raving Rabbids 2Rayman Raving Rabbids 2Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is the second installment of the Rayman Raving Rabbids party franchise, in which the Rabbids attempt to invade Earth and have set up headquarters near a local shopping mall. Players have the option to play as a Rabbid or as Rayman, who has disguised himself as a Rabbid to...
, Red SteelRed SteelRed Steel is a first person shooter video game published by Ubisoft for Nintendo's Wii console. It was developed by the Ubisoft Paris studio and was unveiled in the May 2006 issue of Game Informer. It was released on November 19, 2006 in North America, the date of the first Wii launch...
, Red Steel 2Red Steel 2Red Steel 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris for the Wii video game console. It is the sequel to Red Steel. The game was released on March 23, 2010 in North America and in Europe on March 26, 2010.-Plot:...
, and XIIIXIII (video game)XIII is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Ubisoft. It was released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube consoles and the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. The game is based upon the 1984 Belgian XIII comic book series.XIII was developed and published by...
. - Ubisoft Poland, opened in 2009.
- Ubisoft QuebecUbisoft QuebecUbisoft Quebec is Canadian video game developer Ubisoft's North American studio located in Quebec City, Quebec. Founded as a subsidiary of Ubisoft in June 2005, initially developing low-profile projects, the studio now has over 300 employees...
, started 1 June 2005, based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada - Ubisoft Red Storm in Morrisville, North CarolinaMorrisville, North CarolinaMorrisville is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. A small portion of the town extends into Durham County. The population was 18,576 according to a April 1, 2010 census. Morrisville is part of the Research Triangle metropolitan region...
, USAUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, founded in 1996 and acquired in August 2000. - Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, founded in 1984 as Reflections Interactive and acquired in 26 August 2006, from Atari. - Ubisoft RomaniaUbisoft RomaniaUbisoft Romania was founded in October 1992 and was the first production studio established by Ubisoft outside France.- History :Starting with only 4 programmers and 2 graphic artists, in time, the Bucharest studio has grown to around 800 people working in different fields of activity, in 2010, and...
in Bucharest, Romania and Craiova, started in October 1992. - Ubisoft São PauloUbisoft São PauloUbisoft São Paulo is a video game developer, belonging to Ubisoft, it's the first Ubisoft studio in Brazil and Latin America. The studio is located near Avenida Paulista, São Paulo....
, started on 24 June 2008 and on 20 January 2009 they acquired Southlogic Studios and integrated it into this studio. The studios were closed in late 2010 to focus on games distribution. - Ubisoft San Francisco, North American Headquarters
- Ubisoft ShanghaiUbisoft ShanghaiUbisoft Shanghai is a Chinese video game developer whose headquarters is located in Shanghai. The studio is known for working in various games in the Tom Clancy franchise. The studio is also the second largest Chinese video game studio and the second largest Ubisoft studio.-Games developed:...
, announced in early 2009 that their new, Shanghai studio would develop the upcoming WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation 3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
title, I Am Alive, instead of the originally expected DarkworksDarkworksDarkworks S.A. is an independent video game developer and technology company based in Paris, France. The company is known for its games that include Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare and Cold Fear....
. - Ubisoft Singapore, started on August 2008. Ubisoft cited the Singapore government's demonstrated interest and support for the video game industry, together with other factors such as the quality of Singapore's universities and training institutions, as reasons for opening a studio there. Ubisoft Singapore is focused on developing their own game titles.
- Ubisoft Tiwak
- Ubisoft TokyoUbisoft Tokyois a Japanese International Branch and a main subsidiary of Ubisoft Entertainment. It is known for Translating and releasing Ubisoft games in Japanese. Its customers include Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Square Enix, Microsoft Corporation, and Nintendo Co., Ltd.....
, started in 1994. - Ubisoft TorontoUbisoft TorontoUbisoft Toronto is a subsidiary of French video game developer Ubisoft located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2009, Ubisoft Toronto was officially announced on 6 July 2009 with the studio location being officially confirmed on 4 December 2009....
, announced on 6 July 2009, is led by Assassin's CreedAssassin's CreedAssassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
producer Jade RaymondJade RaymondJade Raymond is a French Canadian video game executive currently working as the Managing Director of Ubisoft Toronto.- Biography :...
. Their first productions will include a new installment of the Splinter CellSplinter CellTom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels. The protagonist, Sam Fisher, is presented as a highly-trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon"...
series made by staff coming from the series' core team at Ubisoft Montreal. - Ubisoft Vancouver, started on 3 February 2009 after acquiring Action Pants Inc.
- Ubisoft MilanUbisoft MilanUbisoft Milan is an Italian videogame development studio in Milan, Italy operated by publisher Ubisoft. Formerly known as Ubisoft Italy. It was later changed to: Ubisoft Milan....
, started in early 1998. - Ubisoft Barcelona, started 1998.
- RedLynxRedLynxRedLynx Ltd. is a multi-platform Finnish video game developer and publisher based in Helsinki, Finland and founded in 2000. Since its founding in 2000, it has developed and published more than 100 games on many platforms, including Xbox LIVE Arcade, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP, Apple...
, acquired in November 2011.
Defunct
- Sinister Games, acquired in April 2000, closed in June 2003.
- Wolfpack StudiosWolfpack StudiosWolfpack Studios was a video game company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1999 by text-MUD veterans J. Todd Coleman, Josef Hall, James Nance, Robert Marsa and Patrick Blanton. Wolfpack's sole product was the fantasy MMORPG Shadowbane, with its accompanying two expansions...
in Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, U.S, founded in 1999 and acquired on 1 March 2004. Closed in 2006.
2011
- I Am Alive (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon OnlineTom Clancy's Ghost Recon OnlineTom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online is a third-person perspective, multiplayer action video game, scheduled for release on the personal computer and Wii U console. On 24 May 2011, Ubisoft announced that its Singapore studio would develop Ghost Recon Online for the latter half of 2011, following an...
(Microsoft Windows, Wii U)
2012
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
- Brothers in Arms: Furious 4Brothers in Arms: Furious 4Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 is a video game in the Brothers in Arms series due for release in 2012. It is published by Ubisoft and being developed by Gearbox Software...
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) - Far Cry 3Far Cry 3Far Cry 3 is the upcoming sequel to the 2008 video game Far Cry 2. It is currently in development and is due to be released in February 2012....
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Retribution (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
TBA
- Tom Clancy's EndWar 2
- Beyond Good & Evil 2Beyond Good & Evil 2Beyond Good & Evil 2 , or BG&E2, is the sequel to the 2003 video game Beyond Good & Evil, currently in development by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. Michel Ancel, the creator of the original game, is back as lead designer of the sequel...
- Imagine series
- LuminesLuminesis a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
(PlayStation Vita) - QuestMania
- Your Shape
- Racquet Sports (Xbox 360)
- Killer Freaks From Outerspace (Wii U)
Uplay
With the release of Assassin's Creed IIAssassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II is a historical third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video...
in 2009, Ubisoft launched the Uplay network, which is activated either in-game or via the Uplay website. Uplay allows players to connect with other gamers, and to earn rewards based on achievements in Uplay enabled games, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stating that "the more you play, the more free goods you will be able to have".
Games
- Assassin's Creed IIAssassin's Creed IIAssassin's Creed II is a historical third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video...
- Assassin's Creed: BrotherhoodAssassin's Creed: BrotherhoodAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2010, Microsoft Windows in March 2011 and Mac OS X in May 2011...
- Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
- Call of Juarez: The CartelCall of Juarez: The CartelCall of Juarez: The Cartel is a first-person shooter video game developed by Techland. The game is part of the Call of Juarez western-themed video games, but is set in modern-day Los Angeles and Mexico as up to three players take the role of law enforcement agents...
- Driver: San FranciscoDriver: San FranciscoDriver: San Francisco is a sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and was released in Australia on September 1, 2011, Europe on September 2, 2011 and North America on September 6, 2011 on...
- Prince of Persia: The Forgotten SandsPrince of Persia: The Forgotten SandsPrince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a multi-platform video game produced by Ubisoft which was released on May 18, 2010, in North America and on May 20 in Europe. The games mark a return to the storyline started by Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is...
- Pure FootballPure FootballPure Football is a football video game developed by Ubisoft Vancouver and published by Ubisoft. It was announced in March 2010 with a trailer....
- R.U.S.E.R.U.S.E.R.U.S.E. is a real-time strategy video game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Ubisoft which was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, in September 2010. R.U.S.E. is a strategy game with systems, intended to be superior to a brute force approach. Instead these...
- Shaun White SkateboardingShaun White SkateboardingShaun White Skateboarding is a skateboarding game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Microsoft Windows, released on October 24, 2010. The game is also available through OnLive...
- Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic
- Splinter Cell: Conviction
- The Settlers 7: Paths to a KingdomThe Settlers 7: Paths to a KingdomThe Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom is a real time strategy and city-building video game developed by Blue Byte Software and published by Ubisoft. It was released on March 23, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the seventh game in The Settlers series.-Gameplay:Paths to a Kingdom features...
- Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
- Assassin's Creed Revelations
- Fable the Lost Chapters
Hardware
In 2009 Ubisoft released the Ubisoft Motion Tracking CameraUbisoft Motion Tracking Camera
The Motion Tracking Camera by Ubisoft is an USB Camera that is attached to the Nintendo Wii to interact with some Games. The idea of this device is quite simple, just connect the USB camera to the Wii and put it near to the Wii's infrared bar....
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
that detects the movement of the gamer to play games like Your Shape
Your Shape
Your Shape is a series of games developed by Ubisoft for several console systems and the PC, focused on body fitness. The game was created in collaboration with NASA and is also used by them.-Your Shape:...
and Racquet Sports. This technology was created by Ubisoft Barcelona, Spain.
Controversies
Ubisoft had, for a time, used the controversial StarForceStarForce
StarForce is a software copy protection mechanism developed by Protection Technology, which claims that products protected with StarForce are difficult to reverse engineer.- Product families :Currently known official versions of StarForce include:...
copy protection technology that installs drivers on a system and is known to cause some hardware problems and compatibility issues with certain operating systems, starting with the game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a critically acclaimed action-adventure stealth game, developed and published by Ubisoft. Chaos Theory is the third game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy....
, which was not compatible with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition released on April 25, 2005 is an edition of Windows XP for x86-64 personal computers. It is designed to use the expanded 64-bit memory address space provided by the x86-64 architecture....
for quite some time, until a patch was released by the makers of StarForce. On 14 April 2006, Ubisoft confirmed that they would stop using StarForce on their games, citing complaints from customers.
In the February 2008 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
, Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu asserted that Ubisoft had ceased to provide all Ubisoft titles to the EGM for any coverage purposes as a result of prior critical previews and negative reviews.
Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft, was quoted in the company's third-quarter 2008-09 sales report as saying "as some of our games did not meet the required quality levels to achieve their full potential, they need more sales promotions than anticipated."
In January 2010, Ubisoft has announced the Online Services Platform, which forces customers to not only authenticate on the first game launch, but to remain online continually while playing, with the game even pausing if network connection is lost. This makes it impossible to play the game offline, to resell it, and means that should Ubisoft's servers go down, the game will be unplayable. In February 2010, review versions of Assassin's Creed II and Settlers 7 for PC contained this new DRM scheme, confirming that it is already in use, and that instead of pausing the game, it would discard all progress since the last checkpoint or save game. However, subsequent patches for Assassin's Creed II allow the player to continue playing once their connection has been restored without lost progress.
In March 2010 outages to the Ubisoft DRM servers were reported, causing about 5% of legitimate buyers to be unable to play Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 games. Ubisoft initially said this was the result of the number of users attempting to access their servers to play, however Ubisoft later claimed that the real cause of the outages were denial-of-service attack
Denial-of-service attack
A denial-of-service attack or distributed denial-of-service attack is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users...
s.
The company's use of Aaron Priceman, also known as Mr. Caffeine, as a spokesman at E3 2011 was criticized for its reliance on witty remarks, inability to pronounce Tom Clancy (he pronounced it Tom Culancy), sexual innuendos and imitations of video game sound effects with little to no response from the audience.
In August 2011, Ubisoft released From Dust with DRM protection, contrary to previous statements that the game would not have any DRM related restrictions. Though a promise was made to remove it, after several months the DRM had still not been removed from many if not all copies of the game. Also, the game was widely described as "badly ported" from consoles. Joystiq reports that "paying players will find a capped frame rate, limited resolutions for the windowed mode, no anti-aliasing and plenty of bugs".
On 23rd of November the creative director of Ubisoft's 'I am Alive' Stanislas Mettra stated "We've heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them," said Mettra. "But are these people just making noise just because there's no version or because it's a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?". Mr Mettra also added "It’s hard because there’s so much piracy and so few people are paying for PC games that we have to precisely weigh it up against the cost of making it. Perhaps it will only take 12 guys three months to port the game to PC. It’s not a massive cost but it’s still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game, then it’s not worth it." The statements made by Mettra are fast becoming notorious.
Lawsuits
In 2008, Ubisoft sued Optical Experts Manufacturing (OEM), a DVD Duplication company for $25 million plus damages for the leak and distribution of the PC version of Assassin's Creed. The lawsuit claims that OEM did not take proper measures to protect its product as stated in its contract with Ubisoft. The complaint also alleges that OEM admitted to all the problems in the complaint.See also
Ubisoft Entertainment games
- Frag DollsFrag DollsThe Frag Dolls are a group of girl gamers recruited and employed by Ubisoft with the aim of promoting women in gaming and in particular the promotion of games made by Ubisoft. The Frag Dolls are all avid gamers...
- UbiWorkshopUbiWorkshop-Ubiworkshop:Ubiworkshop is branch of the Ubisoft company responsible for creating and publishing of short movies, comics, artbooks, limited editions of artworks with the help of the best creators and artists. They are responsible for the elaboration of stories inspired by the universes of games...