With Singapore setting its sights on becoming an interactive and digital media capital - where local products are created for global consumption - one company recognises the importance and value of establishing its business in the city-state.

In February, Ubisoft, a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products set up its new development studio in Singapore. The new studio is slated to open its door in the middle of this year at the new Fusionpolis, a state-of-the-art infocomms and media hub which is still under construction.

A core team of Ubisoft veterans will train the initial team, with the company targeting to employ 300 people over the next few years. After the initial training, the studio will work closely with other Ubisoft studios on the development of titles for portable and home consoles.

By all counts, Singapore's demonstrated interest and support for the videogame industry is in tandem with Ubisoft's Asian expansion plans, making it an obvious location for the company to set up shop. The country's excellent technological infrastructure, thriving local game development industry and quality of its universities and training institutions, as well as the government's willingness to work closely with industry sectors, are primary factors that sealed the decision.

"Not only is it capable of ensuring the training and continued development of a highly skilled workforce specialised in interactive digital media, its quality of life and level of industrialisation make it uniquely positioned to attract and retain talent from the region," says Christine Burgess-Quemard, Executive Director, Worldwide Studios, Ubisoft, of Singapore.


Game plan

Ubisoft's new studio is another pivotal step forward in the company's foray into the Asian market, reinforcing its presence in the region, following the opening of a development and testing studio in Chengdu, China in September 2007.

If its background is anything to go by, Ubisoft appears to practise the same smart, calculated strategies that its award-winning games are known for. In 1986, five brothers, the Guillemots, teamed up to create Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., an educational software and video game publishing and distribution centre. Seven years later, the studio Ubisoft Paris was established and the company released Rayman®, the blockbuster platformer that sold over 19.5 million copies worldwide. The team quickly followed that up with the production of award-winning games such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow®, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter®, which set a new sales record in the first week of its launch. More recently, Ubisoft has added Assassin's Creed™ and Imagine™ to its winning suite of games.

Today, through a diversified line-up of products and partnerships, Ubisoft has offices in 23 countries and sales in more than 50 countries worldwide. Last year, the company moved up the ranks to become the third-leading independent videogame publisher.

Booming local industry

Ubisoft's global expansion couldn't be timelier. The interactive and digital media (IDM) industry is on an exciting upward spiral. Some of the biggest names in entertainment today are digital media companies, with blockbuster game sales now topping Hollywood box-office sales. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, the global videogames industry was a S$51 billion (US$37 billion) market in 2007. By 2011, this figure is expected to hit S$68 billion (US$49 billion), with Asia predicted to grow the fastest in that period and projected to reach S$25 billion (US$18 billion) in market size.

As such, Ubisoft's entry into Singapore is a landmark project and a welcomed move, adding momentum to the Singapore Economic Development Board's (EDB) efforts to grow and strengthen Singapore's IDM sector. When the Singapore studio reaches maximum scale in a few years, it will be the biggest videogame studio in Southeast Asia.

"The digital media industry is key for Singapore, and the development of high growth innovation-intensive sectors like this is of significant priority to us; it will add diversity to Singapore's services industry and create significant spin-offs, including high-value jobs for our people," says Manohar Khiatani, Assistant Managing Director, Industry Development, EDB.

Ubisoft's decision to site its first Southeast Asian studio in Singapore is clearly an exciting barometer for future developments in the IDM industry. Especially for Singapore, where the aim is for Made-In-Singapore videogames to become bestsellers, win global awards, and secure a high-profile in the global videogames industry.