Ubisoft, a French video game company, one of the world’s leading software programming brands with a history of more than 25 years, has its presence in more than 40 countries with 17,000 employees from 95 countries. This is the world’s 4th largest corporation and ranks 3rd in Europe in terms of game production with many globally famous games such as Far Cry, Mario + Rabbids, Watch Dogs, The Division, Starlink, Assassin Creed…
The inauguration ceremony honorabaly welcomed Mr. Aurelien Palasse – CEO of Ubisoft Vietnam; Mr. Vincent Floreani – French Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. On the side of Da Nang city government, there were Ms. Huynh Lien Phuong – Director of Investment Promotion Agency and Mr. Le Son Phong – Deputy Director of Department of Information and Communications; and representatives of other related agencies and press.
At the ceremony, Mr. Aurelien Palasse shared his thoughts about the new Ubisoft studio as well as the reasons why Da Nang was chosen to locate their newest official studio. He said, “In recent years, Viet Nam and especially Da Nang has witnessed the booming of the technology market, with the investment of many large investors in the region in the field of technology and video games.” He added, “Southeast Asia’s gaming market is one of the fastest- growing worldwide. Da Nang is located at the heart of this expanding market, so opening Ubisoft office here has been a right decision so far.”
The Da Nang game design studio will focus on developing mobile games and instant games in HTML5 format which users do not need to download games but can play and interact with each other on different platforms such as PC or Mobile. Da Nang studio is expected to develop 9-10 games yearly and the first game is promising to be released in September 2021.
In addition, in order to cooperate with other Ubisoft studios worldwide including offices across North America, Europe and Asia, Ubisoft Da Nang plans to recruit 100 employees in the next 3 years. Mr. Aurelien shared that he has worked with several local universties to collaborate on building training programs, developing programming experts and human resources. He also proposed with Da Nang university on cooperating in the annual DevDay event, the platform where local IT enterprises, experts, managers and students gather for networking.
Regarding the new Ubisoft studio at 205 Tran Phu street, Hai Chau District, Mr. Aurelien expressed his satisfaction with the modern and comfort design of the studio as well as the location which is right next to the Han river and at the heart of the city. The office also has a terrace overlooking the city, which will offer a place for employees to relax and take the sights of not-so-distant mountains, forests, and ocean. Ubisoft’s top priority is to ensure a friendly and relaxing working environment so that game developers have the best creative inspiration to produce quality games. Da Nang city offers a great alternative to much larger cities with an ideal balance between quality of life and work, so this is an ideal place for Ubisoft programmers and designers team to live and work here.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Vincent Floreani French Consulate General at Ho Chi Minh city shared that it was a good news to here that Ubisoft chose Da Nang to establish its newest studio, which could open a door for cooperation between Da Nang and other French enterprises in the future.
Sharing the same thoughts, Ms. Huynh Lien Phuong Director of Da Nang Investment Promotion Agency identified Ubisoft grand opening as a positive signal in the context that the number of French and European enterprises investing in Da Nang is still low. This event is expected to have leverage impacts on attractting more international ICT corporations and companies to invest and operate in the city, creating a driving force for the development of the ICT industry in Da Nang.
(Quynh Anh, IPA Da Nang)
