Video game giant storms into city

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This article was published 06/04/2018 (2762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest gaming companies responsible for franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, will announce today that it is opening a studio in Winnipeg, the Free Press has learned.

A news conference will be held in Winnipeg this morning to share more details but several sources indicated it will be a major development for the city.

Paris-based Ubisoft boasts the second-largest in-house development staff in the world, with more than 12,000 employees in more than 35 studios worldwide.

Late last month it announced the opening of two studios in Mumbai, India, and Odessa, Ukraine.

The company has a mammoth operation in Montreal that has more than 3,000 employees. Ubisoft received generous incentives to establish its presence in Montreal back in the late ’90s.

According to several sources, economic development officials in Winnipeg have been talking to company officials about coming to Winnipeg for at least a couple of years.

The presence of Ubisoft in Winnipeg gives the local tech sector a major boost.

In recent years, Winnipeg companies such as Skip the Dishes, Bold Commerce, Farmers Edge and Invenia have brought attention to the fact there is a substantial technology talent pool here.

It is not known how big an operation Ubisoft intends to establish in Winnipeg or what sort of incentives will be offered.

Manitoba does have a generous tax credit ­— the Manitoba interactive digital media tax credit —that allows qualifying companies to claim either a 40 per cent or 35 per cent tax credit on eligible costs incurred to develop interactive digital media products in Manitoba.

That tax credit was scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2019 but was extended to Dec. 31, 2022 in Manitoba’s 2017 budget.

Ubisoft was founded in the late ’80s and has since grown a number of very successful franchise titles, including its most successful, Assassin’s Creed, with 110 million units sold and which was developed into a major motion picture. Its Far Cry franchise has been played more than 37 million times.

Far Cry 5, which was predominantly developed at Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, was released last week.

On Thursday, Ubisoft announced it was the second-biggest launch for a Ubisoft title, following only Tom Clancy’s the Division, with US$310 million in sales in the first week.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca