Ubisoft Launches Two Video Games Entirely Produced in Morocco
15 September 2008
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Text: "Prince of Persia 3" and "Rayman raving rabbits" entirely developed by the Casablanca studio, 9 to 18 months of work and a cost of up to 22 MDH.
The video game publisher Ubisoft will present, on Monday, September 1st, two games developed 100% in Morocco. This is the first time that the publisher has entrusted its local studio with the complete development of a game. Better yet, these are two flagship licenses of the publisher, namely "Prince of Persia 3" and "Rayman raving rabbits", which will be launched on the market during the Christmas period. These games required 9 and 18 months of development respectively, and two teams of 40 people each.
This release will be a milestone, since, until now, Morocco only developed games for the Nintendo DS console. These were generally adaptations of a pre-existing game on another console to the Nintendo DS. The studio has thus entered a phase of almost autonomous creation, even if "95% of the industry's biggest sales are sequels of pre-existing licenses", explains Cyril Vermeil, general manager of the publisher's Moroccan branch.
Ubisoft Opens a Campus in October
For the future, the objectives are ambitious. "The Casablanca studio is still a medium-sized studio. When the recruitment program is completed, it should reach the critical size for a video game development studio", explains the general manager. Knowing that the development of a video game costs between 11 and 22 MDH, each launch is an economic "all or nothing". This is why Ubisoft has opened a campus in Casablanca dedicated to training developers, designers, and various profiles in the video game industry.
The campus, which will effectively start on October 13th, will welcome an initial class of 70 professionals from video games and animation films. "Today, the goal is to train creatives with a methodology and rational thinking in game development, which was until now very intuitive", explains Abdelwahed Benyahya, lead designer of the game "Prince of Persia 3". These are the qualities that make Japanese games strong.
The campus is designed as a pool from which the publisher will draw talent who, for their training, benefit from the experience of Moroccan skills. These, like Abdelwahed Benyahya, have ten years of experience in games. However, the publisher will not turn away from the potential present in the country, since it is organizing a national creativity contest to recruit talent.
Published August 29, 2008
Posted September 15, 2008
lavieeco.com
The video game publisher Ubisoft will present, on Monday, September 1st, two games developed 100% in Morocco. This is the first time that the publisher has entrusted its local studio with the complete development of a game. Better yet, these are two flagship licenses of the publisher, namely "Prince of Persia 3" and "Rayman raving rabbits", which will be launched on the market during the Christmas period. These games required 9 and 18 months of development respectively, and two teams of 40 people each.
This release will be a milestone, since, until now, Morocco only developed games for the Nintendo DS console. These were generally adaptations of a pre-existing game on another console to the Nintendo DS. The studio has thus entered a phase of almost autonomous creation, even if "95% of the industry's biggest sales are sequels of pre-existing licenses", explains Cyril Vermeil, general manager of the publisher's Moroccan branch.
Ubisoft Opens a Campus in October
For the future, the objectives are ambitious. "The Casablanca studio is still a medium-sized studio. When the recruitment program is completed, it should reach the critical size for a video game development studio", explains the general manager. Knowing that the development of a video game costs between 11 and 22 MDH, each launch is an economic "all or nothing". This is why Ubisoft has opened a campus in Casablanca dedicated to training developers, designers, and various profiles in the video game industry.
The campus, which will effectively start on October 13th, will welcome an initial class of 70 professionals from video games and animation films. "Today, the goal is to train creatives with a methodology and rational thinking in game development, which was until now very intuitive", explains Abdelwahed Benyahya, lead designer of the game "Prince of Persia 3". These are the qualities that make Japanese games strong.
The campus is designed as a pool from which the publisher will draw talent who, for their training, benefit from the experience of Moroccan skills. These, like Abdelwahed Benyahya, have ten years of experience in games. However, the publisher will not turn away from the potential present in the country, since it is organizing a national creativity contest to recruit talent.
Published August 29, 2008
Posted September 15, 2008
lavieeco.com
