Ubisoft to open studios in Rio de Janeiro and Florianópolis next?

There’s no stopping Ubisoft: less than a day after announcing the creation of its 20th studio, in Brazil, the head of the new outfit has confirmed that more studios could open in the region.

Speaking to Brazilian site UOL, Ubisoft Sao Paolo head Bertrand Chaverot said that Rio de Janeiro and Florianópolis were the next South America cities in Brazil in the frame for a Ubisoft development team.

He said: "We are looking at other places, but [it] depends much on tax incentives," plus other key issues. Ubisoft has opened studios in emerging markets to take advantage of growing talent bases and areas with rich academic scenes but no video games industry.

Chaverot said Rio de Janeiro was of interest "for the large population of the area of development", singling out its design, telecom, media, television and advertising talents.

The region of Florianopolis, meanwhile is "very safe and everyone knows that is the best place to live in Brazil" said Chaverot.

On Ubi’s overall expansion to South America, he added: "Ubisoft always seeks places with different cultures, young talent and cost less than those of Europe.

"We were the first to go to Canada, China, Eastern Europe, and we have just announced new studios.

"With the new generation of games that are coming we will need to grow even more, which includes the studios. And Brazil is part of this strategy for growth."

He also added that Ubisoft can help capitalise on Brazilian culture to help influence the creativity in its games: "We also believe that Brazil has something different, that deserves to be disclosed."