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Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

Heard from some folks in Vancouver that the Ubisoft studio there is closing down this month. I don't work there so can't speak authoritatively or anything, but that's the word on the virtual street from multiple sources.

--

For some background, they were a sports startup years ago called "Action Pants, inc." that was eventually purchased by Ubisoft. Titles shipped:

Academy of Champions: Soccer (Wii)
Pure Futbol (360/PS3)
Motionsports: Adrenaline (Kinect)
...though they also did work on various other Ubi games, like Driver

In the end Vancouver as a gaming market is a tough sell. Just can't match Montreal's tax breaks or Microsoft Vancouver's salary. I suppose the writing was on the wall if they didn't have a core Ubi franchise to own.

Tiktaalik · Jan 17, 2012

lame!

SMT · Jan 17, 2012

Some of the team might be relocating, sad to see it close so close to home.
West-coast blues?

TheOddOne · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
In the end Vancouver as a gaming market is a tough sell. Just can't match Montreal's tax breaks or Microsoft Vancouver's salary.

Whats the full story behind this?

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

TheOddOne said:
Whats the full story behind this?

Nothing particularly controversial.

Part 1: Montreal offers very large tax breaks to game studios. That's why THQ started a new studio, and why Square-Enix is opening up a second montreal studio. It's something like 37.5% of employee salary.

Part 2: Microsoft has a huge presence in the downtown core. Multiple studios. It was originally a holding ground for engineers that they couldn't otherwise get US work visas for, and it went on so long they just started establishing roots (including purchasing game dev BigPark). Compared to most of the game industry MS has a far superior benefits package and is financially equipped to beat most game studios when it comes to salary.

Boerseun · Jan 17, 2012

Academy of Champions is really good. I was hoping it would become a series covering different sports, kind of like Ubisoft's version of the Mario sports games. It's a shame we probably won't see another entry though.

zephervack · Jan 17, 2012

Didnt Ubisoft open a huge office in Toronto a few years back that is still half empty, maybe they are moving development of those titles there.

added_time · Jan 17, 2012

zephervack said:
Didnt Ubisoft open a huge office in Toronto a few years back that is still half empty, maybe they are moving development of those titles there.

Yes they did. I think they mentioned that Ubisoft Toronto is working on Splinter Cell now.

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

Ubisoft really just screwed Action Pants over with no real effort in giving them a real project.

Dave Long · Jan 17, 2012

Someone on my G+ feed was offering condolences and good luck finding jobs to people from this studio, so it must be the real deal.

Wario64 · Jan 17, 2012

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/01/17/ubisoft-closes-vancouver-studio.aspx

Ubisoft said today it has closed its Vancouver development studio, which previously worked on vaious sports titles for the publisher, including: Pure Futbol for Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3.

The studio was previously known as Action Pants before being acquired by Ubisoft in 2009. Action Pants was first formed in 2006.

Ubisoft confirms that we have made the difficult decision to close its studio in Vancouver," a Ubisoft spokesperson told Game Informer. "Unfortunately, we havent found the right formula for success for the talented team there. We thank our Vancouver team for their hard work and the projects that they have delivered.

"Team members will have the opportunity to consider positions in other Ubisoft studios and we will work with each of them to help find the best next step, whether it be within Ubisoft or outside.

Ubisoft Vancouver also developed Academy of Champions: Soccer for Wii.

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

Boerseun said:
Academy of Champions is really good..

Thanks

AlphaTwo00 · Jan 17, 2012

zephervack said:
Didnt Ubisoft open a huge office in Toronto a few years back that is still half empty, maybe they are moving development of those titles there.

800 jobs in 10 years. It's going to be a while.

bishoptl · Jan 17, 2012

An absolute shame. Many talented people at that place. I had the opportunity to sub-contract with them on the Adrenaline project last year, here's hoping that everyone can bounce back on their feet quickly.

Crazymoogle said:
In the end Vancouver as a gaming market is a tough sell. Just can't match Montreal's tax breaks or Microsoft Vancouver's salary. I suppose the writing was on the wall if they didn't have a core Ubi franchise to own.

Yeah, this. DigiBC has been busting ass to work with government in matching breaks provided in other areas of Canada, with some success. It's still not enough, though. And without a core game to call your own, it's hard making the case to stay open. A harsh situation all around. :\

[Nintex] · Jan 17, 2012

TheOddOne said:
Whats the full story behind this?

MGS Vancouver is basically unchallenged, they even get the talent straight out of college:

Scroll down for our job openings!

There are two main reasons why you should consider working at MGS Vancouver: the people, and the projects. We have a fun team of industry veterans and some cutting-edge projects that are pushing the boundaries of core experiences and genres.

Benefits and Perks:

We offer some of the best benefits and perks in the industry. Our industry competitive salaries are reviewed annually to ensure you stay happy, motivated, and are rewarded for your hard work. We are also proud of our comprehensive benefits package that includes dental and medical coverage for you and your family, including luxuries like massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. Other companies talk about work/life balance, but we actually do it. We offer flexible hours, generous vacation allowances, and Microsoft Clubs sponsorship to encourage social clubs (Hint: There's a wine club and a Magic club!).

Other perks and benefits include a bonus plan, an annual Healthy Living Benefit allowance, a company RRSP matching plan, employee stock purchase plan, and access to the Microsoft company store.

Awesome, right?

Co-op Placements:

Yes, we offer co-op placements! We are proud to work closely with a number of Canadian higher education institutions to source the best new talent that we can find. We offer 4 or 8 month co-op placements for Software Development Engineers, Artists, and Designers.

We strongly believe in providing our co-ops with real opportunities to make a difference in their careers. MGS Vancouver co-ops will get their hands dirty in a real development studio, working together with our teams and be directly involved with the projects.

We regularly post our co-op positions, so please check with your co-op coordinator at your school for more information.

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

[Nintex];34346224 said:
MGS Vancouver is basically unchallenged, they even get the talent straight out of college:

Big Park is Don Mattrick's baby. Has immunity until Don Mattrick's gone.

Hiring out of college isn't unusual given Vancouver's game-related education. ~wink bish~

C-Jo · Jan 17, 2012

Shitty news for everyone involved. I have a few friends there.

Lijik · Jan 17, 2012

Boerseun said:
Academy of Champions is really good. I was hoping it would become a series covering different sports, kind of like Ubisoft's version of the Mario sports games. It's a shame we probably won't see another entry though.

I didnt think it was /really/ good but the property had a lot of potential and I wouldve loved a sequel that refined the mechanics

I hope everyone involved can land on their feet quickly!

Mario · Jan 17, 2012

Sad news.

A great programmer of ours went to work there a few years back.

Cat Party · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
Nothing particularly controversial.

Part 1: Montreal offers very large tax breaks to game studios. That's why THQ started a new studio, and why Square-Enix is opening up a second montreal studio. It's something like 37.5% of employee salary.

Part 2: Microsoft has a huge presence in the downtown core. Multiple studios. It was originally a holding ground for engineers that they couldn't otherwise get US work visas for, and it went on so long they just started establishing roots (including purchasing game dev BigPark). Compared to most of the game industry MS has a far superior benefits package and is financially equipped to beat most game studios when it comes to salary.

I'm not really knowledgeable about this stuff, but EA has that massive Burnaby complex as well.

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

Cat Party said:
I'm not really knowledgeable about this stuff, but EA has that massive Burnaby complex as well.

If EA Canada goes down, Vancouver industry goes down with it.

Everything game industry related starts with EA here.

lupinko · Jan 17, 2012

Cat Party said:
I'm not really knowledgeable about this stuff, but EA has that massive Burnaby complex as well.

That Burnaby complex is EA Canada, they make NHL and Fifa there as well as other things.

Neuromancer · Jan 17, 2012

They helped out on Driver: San Francisco (i.e. my feel good game of 2011)? God bless them and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Blablurn · Jan 17, 2012

layoffs always suck

Sapphire Dreams · Jan 17, 2012

Working conditions in this industry are getting worse.

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

Cat Party said:
I'm not really knowledgeable about this stuff, but EA has that massive Burnaby complex as well.

EA is a bit of a special animal though. At one point they used to be able to top anyone on salary/benefits. But they scale to the market now and don't have as much staff. Ubisoft Vancouver was staffed in large part by people who escaped EA, in the early days. I'm sure EAC is still an interesting place to work now but they do have a poor reputation, particularly for hiring fulltime people on contract.

Microsoft has a much better reputation for a) hiring, b) not going into layoff mode and c) offering superior benefits without any sort of negotiation.

EvilMario · Jan 17, 2012

zephervack said:
Didnt Ubisoft open a huge office in Toronto a few years back that is still half empty, maybe they are moving development of those titles there.

Yep, near the Junction a bit north of Bloor around Lansdowne.

So it looks like Vancouver is slowly losing its gaming development industry to Toronto and the even better established Montreal.

Vamphuntr · Jan 17, 2012

Can't say I've played any of their games but it's quite sad when people lose their job in the industry. Hoping they find another position quickly, which might not be easy.

Gary Whitta · Jan 17, 2012

bish, make room in your PMs, your box is full!

The Interrobanger · Jan 17, 2012

zephervack said:
Didnt Ubisoft open a huge office in Toronto a few years back that is still half empty, maybe they are moving development of those titles there.

5 mins north of Lansdowne station, just off of Wallace.

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

EvilMario said:
Yep, near the Junction a bit north of Bloor around Lansdowne.

So it looks like Vancouver is slowly losing its gaming development industry to Toronto and the even better established Montreal.

Not really. We have a lot of smaller studios in here, and UFG has been revived. We probably seen less closures than UK.

No one in the world can compete against Montreal. Half of their salaries are paid by the gov't. It's completely unfair.

Crazymoogle said:
EA is a bit of a special animal though. At one point they used to be able to top anyone on salary/benefits. But they scale to the market now and don't have as much staff. Ubisoft Vancouver was staffed in large part by people who escaped EA, in the early days. I'm sure EAC is still an interesting place to work now but they do have a poor reputation, particularly for hiring fulltime people on contract.

Microsoft has a much better reputation for a) hiring, b) not going into layoff mode and c) offering superior benefits without any sort of negotiation.

Didn't Microsoft close like 5 of their big name studios in less than a few months. 8P

lochnesssnowman · Jan 17, 2012

An ex-colleague of mine was working there until quite recently having already been a victim to the cuts at Radical a couple of years back. Vancouver has had a few knocks recently - much like the UK. Just unable to compete with the huge incentives on offer elsewhere in Canada.

A shame. Hope everyone lands on their feet. Was in Vancouver in the summer - there was some Microsoft offices right by Ubisoft. Which ones were those? United Front just down from there too. Hopefully there's enough going for everyone.

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

lochnesssnowman said:
A shame. Hope everyone lands on their feet. Was in Vancouver in the summer - there was some Microsoft offices right by Ubisoft. Which ones were those? United Front just down from there too. Hopefully there's enough going for everyone.

Microsoft owns studio space on the two floors above Ubisoft as well as in a big building across the street. It wouldn't surprise me if they acquired Ubisoft's floor at some point.

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
Microsoft owns studio space on the two floors above Ubisoft as well as in a big building across the street. It wouldn't surprise me if they acquired Ubisoft's floor at some point.

Oh, well if you're talking about Big Park, that won't shut down for sure as I mentioned. But Microsoft did kill FASA, Esemble, and some other PC Microsoft Game studios.

Still, I wouldn't want to be stuck making Joyride.

Jackano · Jan 17, 2012

Shame to have a Vancouver studio without a Sci-Fi franchised game developed here!

Well otherwise it's normal, why bothering having another studio not geographically connected, and english speaking only, to the others Montreal studios?

bishoptl · Jan 17, 2012

Gary Whitta said:
bish, make room in your PMs, your box is full!

spring cleaning confirmed.

Jackano said:
Shame to have a Vancouver studio without a Sci-Fi franchised game developed here!

If you only knew.

TheOddOne · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
Nothing particularly controversial.

Part 1: Montreal offers very large tax breaks to game studios. That's why THQ started a new studio, and why Square-Enix is opening up a second montreal studio. It's something like 37.5% of employee salary.

Part 2: Microsoft has a huge presence in the downtown core. Multiple studios. It was originally a holding ground for engineers that they couldn't otherwise get US work visas for, and it went on so long they just started establishing roots (including purchasing game dev BigPark). Compared to most of the game industry MS has a far superior benefits package and is financially equipped to beat most game studios when it comes to salary.

Thanks for clarifying this, always heard about it but could never get the full picture

JWong said:
Didn't Microsoft close like 5 of their big name studios in less than a few months. 8P

What? They closed Aces, Ensemble Studios and FASA Studio in 2009. What other studios are you talking about?

sixteen-bit · Jan 17, 2012

Damn, rough gen.

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

JWong said:
Oh, well if you're talking about Big Park, that won't shut down for sure as I mentioned. But Microsoft did kill FASA, Esemble, and some other PC Microsoft Game studios.

Dunno wtf you're running on about JWong

I'd say that Microsoft's internal studios are fairly failproof; I know several folks who decided to transfer to other MS studios and one who jumped to 343. Believe it or not but MS does seem to want to retain as much as possible.

-Pyromaniac- · Jan 17, 2012

I know someone that works at Ubisoft Toronto. He must be scared right now, sucks.

TheOddOne · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
Microsoft owns studio space on the two floors above Ubisoft as well as in a big building across the street. It wouldn't surprise me if they acquired Ubisoft's floor at some point.

So thats where the main MGS Vancouver studio is situated?

B_Rik_Schitthaus · Jan 17, 2012

Are all these closures happening now because we're coming to the end of the financial year?
Otherwise I don't have a clue.

Crazymoogle · Jan 17, 2012

-Pyromaniac- said:
I know someone that works at Ubisoft Toronto. He must be scared right now, sucks.

I wouldn't.

Ubisoft Toronto is basically one of the top tier studios right now, just below Montreal in the pecking order. They have a sweet, exclusive government tax break deal, they have marching orders to increase staff, and they have a mainline Ubisoft franchise.

Even if Ubisoft as a whole went through a massive downsizing, Toronto, Montreal and Singapore would remain.

TheOddOne said:
So thats where the main MGS Vancouver studio is situated?

Probably? It was my understanding that Big Park has the building across the street but they did do various reshufflings in terms of what teams go where. I'd imagine upstairs is still their "lead" location?

lochnesssnowman · Jan 17, 2012

-Pyromaniac- said:
I know someone that works at Ubisoft Toronto. He must be scared right now, sucks.

I wouldn't think that Toronto are in any danger.

-Pyromaniac- · Jan 17, 2012

Crazymoogle said:
I wouldn't.

Ubisoft Toronto is basically one of the top tier studios right now, just below Montreal in the pecking order. They have a sweet, exclusive government tax break deal, they have marching orders to increase staff, and they have a mainline Ubisoft franchise.

Even if Ubisoft as a whole went through a massive downsizing, Toronto, Montreal and Singapore would remain.

lochnesssnowman said:
I wouldn't think that Toronto are in any danger.

well that be good

JWong · Jan 17, 2012

TheOddOne said:
What? They closed Aces, Ensemble Studios and FASA Studio in 2009. What other studios are you talking about?

Maybe not in the span of a few months, but I'm thinking about Bizarre and Bungie leaving in addition to those mentioned.

Edit: Oh, I was saying within a few months, not in the past few months. My mistake.

KageMaru · Jan 17, 2012

Man this has been one depressing week. ;_;

Really hope anyone effected by this lands on their feet.

Mario · Jan 17, 2012

B_Rik_Schitthaus said:
Are all these closures happening now because we're coming to the end of the financial year?

December financial results are becoming apparent for publishers and they are starting to make decisions on them.

TheOddOne · Jan 17, 2012

JWong said:
Maybe not in the span of a few months, but I'm thinking about Bizarre and Bungie leaving in addition to those mentioned.

Bizarre was never an in-house developer. Bungie problem could have been as big as Infinity Ward, MS the did the right thing.

I really don't get why this is being discussed here, this is thread is about Ubisoft Vancouver closing, not on how MS treats it's studios.

Crazymoogle said:
Probably? It was my understanding that Big Park has the building across the street but they did do various reshufflings in terms of what teams go where. I'd imagine upstairs is still their "lead" location?

Thanks for this, really intrested in development and the rise of studio opening in Canada.

B_Rik_Schitthaus · Jan 17, 2012

Mario said:
December financial results are becoming apparent for publishers and they are starting to make decisions on them.

Makes sense, hopefully the rest of the year is more stable.

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