Ubisoft to Open Studio in Winnipeg

Ubisoft is one of the largest studios in the world in the development of video games with locations in 18 countries. It was founded in France in 1986 and established a studio in Montreal in 1997 with government help. Not often has this type of investment paid off the way it has but in Montreal, the studio has grown to over 3000 employees and is the creative drive behind many of the most popular games the company produces including Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. Quebec fought for and won the location over the company's first choice in New Brunswick.

Today, Ubisoft has five studios in Canada in Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay, Toronto and Halifax. Ubisoft has closed operations in Charlottetown and notably, Vancouver. At present, there are no studios in western Canada although all four provinces have been lobbying hard for the company's next major investment. That comes to a close today as it will be announced that Winnipeg will be the home to Ubisoft's next studio.

Winnipeg will join the company's world-wide 35 studios and 12,000 employees in producing the popular games that easily out sell the biggest movies Hollywood produces. The attraction to Manitoba likely came in two ways: the first was that the Manitoba tax credit film, media and sound was retained into the future. There was some question why the government of Brian Pallister kept this in the last budget. Now we know. The 35-40% tax credit is a major selling point over the other western provinces. Just ask New Brunswick how they feel about losing Ubisoft to Quebec to know how big landing the company is. The second is: Winnipeg is home to a few winners in software development with Bold Commerce, Skip the Dishes, Invenia and Farmer's Edge. It also as some creative producers in film and TV as well as Red River College to help attract talent. That is nothing to say of the theatre departments of University of Winnipeg and University of Manitoba.

It is unknown how many employees will end up working in Winnipeg at this point but recent studio add ons have started at 100 to 125. It is also unknown what projects Ubsioft the company Winnipeg would be working on. Some studios have started off small and have become the creative forces in developing games within their talent pools. It seems likely Winnipeg will start in support of larger operations initially.

A news conference is set for today. More details to follow.

It is now confirmed Winnipeg will start with 100 employees in a five year period at a location not yet disclosed. In Montreal, they have headquarters in a historic building. Given a lot of the movie industry as well as some of the tech sector is in the Exchange, expect to see a first look given to the area rather than building in an industrial park. Ubisoft is accepting applications from engineers, artists and other programmers starting immediately. Total investment announced is $35 million.