Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly
Ubi Soft) is a
computer and
video game publisher and
developer with headquarters in
Montreuil,
France. The company has facilities in over 20 countries, including development studios in
Montreal,
Canada;
Barcelona,
Spain;
Shanghai,
China;
North Carolina,
USA;
Düsseldorf,
Bulgaria,
Germany; and
Milan,
Italy, amongst other locations.
As of 2004, it is the third-largest independent video game publisher in Europe, and the seventh largest in the
US. The "Ubi" in Ubisoft is sometimes pronounced [juːbi] or more often [u'bi], however in French it is pronounced [y'bi]. (See
IPA phonetic notation.)
Ubisoft's mascot is
Rayman.
The five brothers of the Guillemot family founded Ubisoft as a computer game publisher in
1986 in
France. Yves Guillemot soon made deals with
Electronic Arts,
Sierra On-Line, and
Microprose to distribute their games in France. By the end of the decade, Ubisoft began expanding to other markets, including the United States, the
United Kingdom, and
Germany.
In the early
1990s, Ubisoft initiated its in-house game development program which led to the
1994 opening of a studio in Montreuil, France, which later became their headquarters. That same year,
Michel Ancel created the
Rayman character, a character which still stars in new video games as of 2006. Ubisoft became a publicly traded company in
1996 and continued to expand to offices around the globe, opening locations in
Shanghai and
Montreal.
In
2000, Ubisoft acquired US-based
Red Storm Entertainment, the game development studio founded by techno-spy novelist
Tom Clancy, already famous in its own right for games based on Clancy's books. In
2001, the company purchased
Blue Byte Software, known for the
Settlers series. By
2003, Ubisoft reported operations in 22 countries, nine of those containing production or design offices. Ubisoft had a number of successful and award-winning games that year, including
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell,
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,
XIII,
Rayman 3,
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield and
Beyond Good and Evil.
Ubisoft's revenue for 2002-2003 was
€453 million; for fiscal year 2003-2004, this grew to €508 million.
As of 2004, Ubisoft employs more than 2,350 people, of which over 1700 are classed as working in production. Yves Guillemot, a founding brother, is the chairman and
CEO.
In the late
1990s and early
2000s, Ubisoft committed itself to online games by getting behind
,
The Matrix Online, and the
European and
Chinese operation of
EverQuest. The publisher established ubi.com as its online division. But in February 2004, Ubisoft cancelled the online portion of
Uru and backed out of the publishing deal on
The Matrix Online. Regardless, only a week later the company announced its acquisition of
Wolfpack Studios, developers of fantasy
MMORPG Shadowbane, and in July 2004, its
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was released for the Xbox and
PlayStation 2 with what some considered a revolutionary online multiplayer feature.
On
December 20,
2004 Electronic Arts (EA) purchased a 19.9% stake in the firm. At the time, Ubisoft released a statement saying they considered the purchase "hostile" until they had further information on EA's intent.
Ubisoft also bought the Driver franchise from Atari in July 2006, for a sum of 19 million euros ($24 million) in cash for the franchise, technology rights, and most assets. Additionally, though Ubisoft is not acquiring the studio outright, the 80 members of Driver developer Reflections Interactive will become employees of Ubisoft.
Ubisoft is known to use
Starforce copy protection that installs drivers on a system and is suspected to cause problems with some hardware and compatibility issues with certain operating systems, starting with the game
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory which as of the time of writing (February 2nd 2006) is not compatible with
Windows XP Professional x64 EditionOn the 14th of April 2006 Ubisoft confirmed that they will stop using Starforce on their games citing complaints from the customers.
1*Q3
2006*
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (PC)
*September
2006*
Resident Evil 4 (PC)
*Q4
2006*
Faces Of War (PC)
*October
2006*
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GC)
*November
2006*
Red Steel (Wii)
*
Rayman 4: Raving Rabbids (Wii)
*
Far Cry (Wii)
*
Blazing Angels (Wii)
*
Open Season (Wii)
*
Monster 4x4 World Circuit (Wii)
*
GT Pro Series (Wii)
*
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
*
Rainbow Six: Vegas (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PC)
*
2006*
Untitled game based on the anime and manga, Naruto (Xbox 360)
*
2007*
Assassin's Creed (PS3 [Confirmed], Xbox 360, PC, Wii [Not Confirmed])
*
Haze (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC)
Edit Note: While Lumines was published by Ubisoft, Lumines II (fall 2006) is being published by
Buena Vista Games and
Bandai.
This is a partial list of games developed and/or published by Ubisoft.
Advance Guardian Heroes (2004) — GBA
Alexander (2004) — PC
America's Army: Rise of a Soldier — PS2, Xbox
Ape Escape 2 (2003) — PS2
*
Pumped & Primed (2004) — PS2
Asphalt Urban GT (2004) — DS.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (2004) — GBA
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003) — Xbox, PS2
Battle Realms (2001) — PC
Beyond Good & Evil (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood Xbox, PS2, PC
*
Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30 (2005) — Xbox, PS2, PC
Capitalism 2 (2001) — PC
Catz 5 (2002) — PC
Chessmaster (2003/2004) — Xbox, PS2, PC
*
Chessmaster 9000 (2002) — PC, Mac
*
Chessmaster 10th Edition (2004) — PC
Conflict Zone (2001) — PS2
Conquest: Frontier Wars (1999) — PC
*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GBA
*' (2004) — Xbox, PC
**' (2004) — PC
**' (2004) — PC
*Cold Fear (2005) — PC, Xbox, PS2
*Destroyer Command (2002) — PC
*Devil May Cry 3 (2006) — PC
*Dogz 5 (2002) — PC, GBA
* Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern (2001) — DC, PC
*The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002) — PC, Xbox
F1 Racing Championship (2001) — PC, PS2, Dreamcast
Far Cry (2004) — PC
*
Far Cry Instincts (2005) — Xbox
FLOW: Urban Dance Uprising — PS2
Fred (1989) — Atari ST520
Heritage of Kings: The Settlers (2005) — PC
Heroes of Might and Magic V (2005) — PC
Heroes of the Pacific — PC
Hype: The Time Quest (1999) — PC
IL-2 Sturmovik (2001) — PC
*
Forgotten Battles Ace Expansion Pack (2004) — PC
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1993) — NES
Iron Lord (1989) — Atari ST520
Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour (1993) — NES
Peter Jackson's King Kong — PC, PS2, GCN, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP, NDS
*
Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World — GBA
Lock On: Modern Air Combat (2003) — PC
Lunar Legend (2001) — GBA
*
Lunar: Dragon Song (2005) — DS
Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal (2003) — PS2, GC
Myst Masterpiece Edition (2000) — PC
*
Riven: The Sequel to Myst (1998) — PC
*
realMYST (2000) — PC, Mac
*
Myst III: Exile (2001) — PC, Mac
*
Myst IV: Revelation (2004) — PC, Mac
**' (2003) — PC
**
(2004) — PC
**
Myst V: End of Ages (2005) — PC, Mac
Night Hunter (1989) — Atari ST520
Pacific Fighters (2004) — PC
Paradise (2006) — PC
POD (Planet of Death) (1996) — PC
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001) — PC
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC, GBA, (2005 DS)
*
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Prince of Persia: Revelations (2005) (PSP)
*
Battles of Prince of Persia — (2006) (NDS)
Puffy's Saga (1988) — Atari ST520
Rayman (1996) — PC, PS1, GBC
*
Rayman Gold (1997) — PC
**
Rayman Designer (1997) — PC
**
Rayman Forever (1998) — PC
***
Rayman Collector's Edition (1999) — PC
*
Rayman 2: The Great Escape (1999/2000) — PC, N64, DC, PS1
**
Rayman Revolution (2000/2001) — PS2
*
Rayman M (UK Release) (2001) — PC, PS2
*
Rayman Arena (2002) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC, GBA, MAC, N-GAGE
*
Rayman DS (2005) — DS
*
Rayman: Hoodlum's Revenge (2005) — GBA
Rocky Legends (2004) — Xbox, PS2
Secret of the Silver Earring (2004) — PC
Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos (2003) — PC
Silent Hunter III (2005) — PC
Sprung (2004) — DS
Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force (2004) — GBA
The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee (2004) — Xbox, PS2
The Political Machine (2004) — PC
The Sum of All Fears (2002/2003) — GC, PC, GBA
*
Ghost Recon series
*
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC
**
Desert Siege (2003) — PC
**
Island Thunder (2003) — Xbox, PC
**
Jungle Storm (2004) — PS2
*
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (2004/2005) — Xbox, PS2, GC
*
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, (2006) — Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, PS2
*
Rainbow Six series
*
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (1999) — PC, Mac, DC, PS1
**
Urban Operations — (2000)
**
Black Thorn (2001) — PC
*
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (PC) (2003) — PC
**
Athena Sword (2004) — PC
**
Iron Wrath (2005) — PC
*
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (console) (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC
**
Black Arrow (2004) — Xbox
*
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown (2005) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (In development) — Xbox 360,PS2, Xbox, PS3
*
Splinter Cell series
*
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Pandora Tomorrow (2004) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Chaos Theory (2005) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
*
Essentials (2006) — PSP only
*
Double Agent (In development) — Xbox, PS2, PC, Xbox 360, GC
Tonic Trouble (2000) PC, N64
Tork: Prehistoric Punk (2005) — Xbox
Trollz: Hair Affair! — GBA
Twinworld (1989) — Atari ST520
Warlords Battlecry II (2002) — PC
Warlords IV: Heroes of Etheria (2003) — PC
Will Rock (2003) — PC
XIII (2003) — Xbox, PS2, GC, PC
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates (2005) — PC
See also: Ubisoft Entertainment games*
Ubisoft's public site*
Ubisoft's corporate site *
Red Storm Entertainment, subsidiary developer of Ubi Soft*
Wolfpack Studios, subsidiary developer of Ubi Soft*
List of Atari ST520 games published by UBI Soft*
Ubisoft Entertainment at
MobyGames
