Ubisoft reveals major expansion plans for Montreal

French publisher Ubisoft has announced that it is to double the size of its Canadian studio in Montreal over the next five years, with an expansion plan that will create 1000 new game development jobs in the region.

The company has chosen Montreal as its key growth location over the coming years, with the city winning out over rival locations such as Shanghai and Orlando thanks, in part, to tax incentives from the provincial government of Quebec.

By 2010, it's expected that Quebec will have given Ubisoft as much as C$52 million (32 million Euro) in grants and subsidies, topped up with tax credits and a grant of C$5 million (3 million Euro) in development money from the Canadian federal government.

However, this is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount which Ubisoft plans to invest in the region - with the firm estimating that it will spend C$700 million (434 million Euro) on wages and new equipment at the studio by 2010.

The Montreal studio, which is responsible for franchises including Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, is already Ubisoft's largest - employing around 1000 people out of the company's global total of 2800.

Last year the company commenced a major round of development hiring, and is still hiring significant numbers of staff for its studio in Shanghai as it seeks to bulk up its internal development capacity.