Ubisoft Saguenay Announced, Invests Heavily in Quebec

Published: September 5, 2017 10:42 AM /

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Ubisoft Saguenay Header

After building it up as their biggest announcement in Quebec of all time, Ubisoft took to the stage today to announce the opening of their fourth Quebec studio, Ubisoft Saguenay.

After an opening that showed how Ubisoft has grown in Quebec and the accolades of their studios in Quebec, especially of Ubisoft Montreal which has released many high profile titles, they settled into the announcement phase. The new Ubisoft Saguenay will open January 31, 2018, and will be specialized in online technologies and will work on making online features for Ubisoft games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6tMPFVU3k

As part of the announcement, they announced a $135 million investment in creating the new studio, and 125 jobs will be added to the new studio over 5 years. Beyond that investment, they're planning $780m in investments over 10 years in Quebec and to create a 1000 new jobs. That will be split with 200 jobs in Ubisoft Quebec, 675 in Ubisoft Montreal, and another new studio to be opened elsewhere in Quebec by 2027.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ric2fiEBeHI

In the press release, a translated part of Yves Guillemot (CEO of Ubisoft Worldwide) statement had him saying:

“We are proud to have contributed to the emergence of Quebec as a world-renowned hub for videogame development. Over 20 years, Ubisoft has created more than 3,600 jobs, invested more than $3.5 billion and developed some of the greatest brands in the industry here in Quebec. Today, videogames are the most dynamic segment of the entertainment industry, and are at the heart of technological revolution. As a result, we have a unique opportunity to build tomorrow’s Quebec, together.” -- Yves Guillemot
Beyond those new jobs though, Ubisoft also announced that they were planning to invest further in education. In addition to its already planned announcements, Ubisoft will be investing 13m in education, applied university research, and other similar areas which will be spread across multiple regions in Quebec to attract and train people in disciplines related to video games. The CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, and Ubisoft Toronto Yannis Mallat gave the following statement:
“Videogame jobs are constantly evolving and continue to prove themselves as the jobs of the future for young Quebeckers. With these direct investments in the ecosystem, Ubisoft is concretely participating in the development of specialized technological expertise, a long-term enabler of success for the Province of Quebec. These commitments will aid in cultivating the favourable circumstances that will allow us to open a fifth centre of operations in another region of Quebec within 10 years." -- Yannis Mallet
With all of it, the new managing director of Ubisoft Saguenay Jimmy Boulianne announced that Ubisoft Saguenay is hiring folks and that he is proud to be creating regional jobs in the region he came from. You can find information on their website about it and available positions.

Jimmy Boulianne Ubisoft Saguenay
Jimmy Boulianna, the new Managing Director at Ubisoft Saguenay


Quick Take

While Ubisoft Montreal may have oversold it some, it is really big business and industry news on the whole. While people watching the stream were often disappointed that there was no game news, this is a significant investment in the province and opens up a lot of new jobs as well. Several political luminaries were there including the Premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard, the Quebec minister of finance and the Mayor of Saguenay. 

If you were hoping for game news though, it was surely a disappointment. 

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Don Parsons
| Senior Writer

A longtime lover of speculative fiction, in almost all its forms, Don joined TechRaptor in 2014 on a whim sending in an application as he was looking for… More about Don