Ubisoft opens new studios in India and Ukraine

Ubisoft has expanded its development resource with another two studios.

The company is opening a new outfit in Mumbai, India, to join its existing development house in Pune.

The Mumbai division will report to Pune studio MD Jean-Philippe Pieuchot. The new outfit will work with Pune on supporting major Ubisoft franchises including South Park, Just Dance, Far Cry, Trials Frontier and Steep.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Pieuchot said that the firm was interested in a Mumbai outfit due to its unique talent pool and large population - it is the fourth largest city in the world.

The studio is due to open in June and will be home to 100 employees, joining the 750 that work in Pune.

"Mumbai will focus on AA development, and leverage our expertise in live operations and games as a service," said Pieuchot.

Ubisoft Mumbai will also collaborate with the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai and Intuit Lab, which are schools. The Indian Institute of Technology is a tech school and Ubisoft will support its work in machine learning and AI. Whereas Intuit Lab is an art school, with Ubisoft helping to develop a four-year game design curriculum.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has also opened a second studio in the Ukraine based in Odesa. It will boost the firm's efforts in Eastern Europe, with 10 employees currently and a further 60 to be hired. Adrian Serbanescu, Studio Manager of the Kiev studio, will manage the new Odesa office. The company will focus on the Ghost Recon series.

"Ubisoft first came to Kiev 10 years ago and since then the team grew and took on challenging projects, but alongside Kiev, we have always been interested in Odesa and thus the perfect occasion for us to show this was by opening an office there," said Sebastian Delan, Managing Director for Ubisoft's Eastern European Hub. "We are really glad to see the industry evolving in Ukraine and to see so many people who are passionate about game development."