Ubisoft will invest over 10 million euro in Craiova in the next two years

The studio will grow the local business of the games producer with 25%

The second European producer of games, Ubisoft has opened another creation studio in Romania in Craiova. The initial investment was of 50,000 euros, but according to Sebastian Delen, Managing Director Ubisoft for Eastern Europe, in the next two years the company will invest between 5 and 10 million in Craiova. The studio has currently 12 employees, but Ubisoft’s objective is to reach 100 people in the next three years.

Article translated by:
NiC Translation Agency

The studio in Craiova will increase business in Ubisoft up to 25%, estimated Sebastian Delen. Last year, the manufacturer had business in Romania of 11.5 million euros and a net profit of 427 thousand euros. Sebastian Delen has declared for "Financiarul" that 15% of Ubisoft global production is made in Australia. The producer has studios in other European countries (France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Germany), but also in China, India and Canada. The studio in Craiova is the second opened in Romania, after the one in Bucharest, where there are working now 600 employees, and the fourth in Eastern Europe, after those in Sofia, where there are working 50 developers, and Kiev, 15 developers.

Partnership with the University in Craiova

Ubisoft has signed an agreement of cooperation with the software department of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Craiova, the only college in Romania that has this department. "After carrying out several projects, including various competitions and trainings, this year we decided to develop a partnership with the University of Craiova (...) I am convinced that in Craiova we will discover talented young people to develop games (...) Our policy is that of always looking for talented people. Depending on the collaborations that we might have with various university centers, it is possible to get oriented to other Romanian cities, but here in Craiova I found the best nucleus of talented professionals and students in software", explained Sebastian Delen. He added that Ubisoft offers employment opportunities and that is not about "jobs for students, but the real job of developing a career in the games industry”. Ubisoft has been collaborating with the University of Craiova for two years.

"The studio in Craiova is the result of the collaboration between our faculty and Ubisoft. I think the new studio in Craiova represents an opportunity for graduates to stay and work at home and not to leave the country immediately after they finish school. Almost all our graduates are leaving from Germany to Canada and the United States being very appreciated, "said Prof. Eng. Dan Dumitru Burdescu, head of the Department of Software Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering.

The team from Craiova is already involved in developing games. At the opening of the new studio there were presented the most expected Ubisoft games: Brothers in Arms: Helli's Highway, Prince of Persia, Far Cry 2, Tom Clancyi's EndWar and Tom Clancyi's HAWX, the latter being developed in the studio in Bucharest. Ubisoft announced an innovation - voice commands during games. The main competitor of Ubisoft on the European market, Electronic Arts, is currently present in Australia.