On Sept. 5, the Ubisoft group announced its expansion in the province of Quebec with the opening of a fourth production studio : Ubisoft Saguenay. Learn more about the particular mandate of this new entity.
It’s been twenty years since Ubisoft arrived in Canada and, more specifically, Montreal. Though the videogame industry in 1997 was virtually inexistent in the Province of Quebec, today, its dynamic presence is responsible for the careers of more than 10,000 people, including Ubisoft’s 3,600 employees in Montreal and Quebec City. These creative and talented employees have contributed, directly or indirectly, to the production of more than one hundred world-renowned videogames, including blockbusters from Assassin’s Creed (more than 100 million copies sold), Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (32 million), Far Cry (38 million) and Watch_Dogs (12 million).
Under Jimmy Boulianne, Ubisoft Saguenay’s team will devote itself to supporting the production of the online aspects of Ubisoft games in Canada. Jimmy took a few minutes to talk to us about his vision for the studio, and online in videogames.
Why establish a new studio?
With this new studio, we’re creating a powerful and reactive team of experts that will focus exclusively on the online features of the games that Ubisoft’s Canadian studios are creating, to support them in best practices, tools and approaches, which are all constantly evolving. We’re aiming to add and accelerate to online features and, ultimately, to allow our brands to offer even bigger experiences to our players.
So we’re talking about coproduction with the Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto studios. While those three studios will continue developing the games we already love, Saguenay will be developing the online aspects that build and enrich the player experience.
“We’re aiming to add and accelerate to online features and, ultimately, to allow our brands to offer even bigger experiences to our players.”
So the Ubisoft Saguenay studio will be dedicated to online features. Why?
The online aspect of videogames has finally been establishing and amplifying itself for a few years, but now we’re at a great moment for online.
What I like about the field is that it’s alive. It moves, it evolves all the time. Every time a part of the whole renews itself, everything else is affected and reacts. But then, when the player picks her game controller, she has to recognize the game and feel the comfort of the familiar.
So we always have to be active. It’s not a field where you can rest on your laurels.
Who can join this new studio?
Well, first of all, and this is important, we need people who love what they do, who are passionate, be they artists or programmers. A thing I love about the culture at Ubisoft is that you can be creative in a lot of different ways, so our employees always seek out ways to evolve and challenge themselves.
Then, you should, of course, demonstrate a certain interest in videogames and online! We’re not necessarily looking for pro-gamers, though, or for people who only play AAAs. Someone who is actively interested in the topic, that’s good. Or someone who has experience with online services, even if we’re talking about applications rather than games.
“You can be creative in a lot of different ways, so our employees always seek out ways to evolve and challenge themselves.”
So… you’re recruiting?
Oh yes! Immediately! Essentially, Ubisoft Saguenay will focus on connecting players among themselves and connecting players to our games, in innovative and solid ways. So starting right now and for the next years, we’ll be searching for a wide variety of profiles, but profiles you’d recognize from any production studio—with a penchant for online. Of course we’ll be seeking all kinds of programmers, but there are also positions open in fields ranging from production management to quality control, level design to animation.
To see positions available at Ubisoft Saguenay, visit saguenay.ubisoft.com.
