The Arab States of the Gulf’s twofour54 media zone authority has collaborated with Ubisoft to help them open a new development studio in Abu Dhabi for Middle-Easterns and North Africans. The initiative is part of a drive from the Abu Dhabi government to help expand the state for media and entertainment ventures within those parts.
Christine Burgess-Quémard, executive director, worldwide studios at Ubisoft commented in the press release about the collaboration and the new studio opening, saying…
“We are excited by the partnership with twofour54. Their commitment to developing a strong regional gaming industry and their knowledge of the region were the perfect foundation on which to continue building our development teams,” ... “The demographics and the pool of skilled technical talent in the Middle East and North Africa region are key factors that will contribute to the success of this new studio.”
Ubisoft will jettison a few of their veterans over to help get the new studio up and going; training local designers, artists, programmers and project managers is another high-end priority for Ubi, as they aim to use the studio for more high profile projects in the near future. For now, the end-goal is to get the studio up and running to handle many of their new international digital entertainment properties, such as MMOs, casual games and online social titles.
Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO & Chief Operating Officer, twofour54 also shared a few of his comments on the new studio, saying…
“Digital gaming has always been a priority sector for twofour54 and to partner with an international market leader such as Ubisoft is great news for the region’s gaming industry,” … “The digital games played by Arabs have traditionally been developed outside the region, which means that they rarely have a direct relevance to Arab gamers. Our agreement with Ubisoft will benefit the region in that it will enable the development of titles that resonate with the local population, whilst also building the skills of young Arabs to allow the region to create its own games and developing a gaming industry base here at twofour54.”
The new studio will be headed up by 10-year Ubi vet, Yannick Theler, who started as a marketing director at the Ubisoft Switzerland before being upgraded to VP of business development.
Need to learn more about the new studio in Abu Dhabi? Well, feel free to visit Ubisoft’s Official Website.
