Click Entertainment is a distributor and wholesale supplier of Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. video game products.
Ubisoft is a French multinational video game publisher and developer which is exceedingly well known for developing several acclaimed video game franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell and Rayman, as a few of the most popular.
Company History:
In March 1986, five brothers of the Guillemot family founded Ubisoft, a computer game publisher, in Carentoir, a small village located in the Morbihan department of the Brittany region, in France. Yves Guillemot was soon to make deals with Electronic Arts, MicroProse and Sierra On-Line, to distribute their games in France. By the end of the decade, the company had begun to expand to other markets such as the UK, Germany and the United States. They also entered the video game distribution and wholesale markets, and by 1993 they had become the largest distributor of video games in France.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ubisoft had committed itself to online games by supporting The Matrix Online, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and the European and Chinese operation of EverQuest.
The company is also noted for it’s female teams of game testers/developers, known as the Frag Dolls.
In July 2006, Ubisoft bought the Driver franchise from Atari and two years later in July 2008 the company made the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, a Montreal-based studio renowned for its expertise in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising.
Ubisoft announced plans in 2013 to invest $373 million into its Quebec operations over seven years, a move that will generate 500 additional jobs in the province.
Acquisitions and Partnerships:
- Future Games of London in London, United Kingdom, founded in 2009, acquired on 1 October 2013.
- Hybride Technologies, acquired 8 July 2008.
- Nadeo in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, France, founded in 2000. Acquired in 5 October 2009.
- RedLynx, acquired in November 2011.
- Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software GmbH in Heusenstamm, Germany, founded in 1993, acquired on 11 April 2007.
- THQ Montreal, acquired 22 January 2013.
- Ubisoft Abu Dhabi, located at media city twofour54 in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This studio opened its doors in December 2011, and it is the first ever gaming development studio in the Middle East that was launched by a multi-millionaire video games publishing company. The studio is also responsible for launching twofour54’s gaming academy.
- Ubisoft Annecy – best known for developing the multiplayer for Assassin’s Creed series.
- Ubisoft Barcelona, started 1998.
- Ubisoft Blue Byte (former Blue Byte Software) in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988, acquired February 2001.
- Ubisoft Blue Byte Mainz (former Related Designs), Germany, founded in January 1995 acquired a 30% stake in the company on 11 April 2007, fully acquired and integrated into Ubisoft Blue Byte in April 2013.
- Ubisoft Sofia in Bulgaria, started 2006.
- Ubisoft Casablanca
- Ubisoft Chengdu is the Chinese arm headquartered in the Chengdu Tianfu Software Park, Chengdu, since 17 September 2007. It was Ubisoft’s second development studio in China.
- Ubisoft Germany in Düsseldorf, started in 1995, acquired Gamebusters in October 2001 and merged employees.
- Ubisoft Japan, started in 1994.
- Ubisoft Massive in Malmö, Sweden, founded as Massive Entertainment in 1997, acquired from Vivendi Games on 10 November 2008.
- Ubisoft Milan, started in early 1998. Developer, among others, of games in the Rayman, Just Dance, Beyond Good & Evil, Rabbids, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and Assassin’s Creed series.
- Ubisoft Montpellier, acquired Tiwak in 2004 and merged employees. Developer of Rayman Origins, From Dust, and Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Michel Ancel is a developer for this division.
- UbiArt Framework, started in 2010.
- Ubisoft Montreal, started in 1997 as Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., acquired the Canadian division of MC2-Microïds (Microïds Canada) and integrated it into eventually merged into this division in March 2005.
- Ubisoft Nagoya, started in September 1996 as “Digital Kids”. Acquired by Ubisoft in 2008.
- Ubisoft Paris, made games such as Rayman, Raving Rabbids 2, Red Steel, Red Steel 2, and XIII.
- Ubisoft Poland, opened in 2008.
- Ubisoft Pune, started on 1 May 2008 after acquiring the Pune Gameloft studio in India.
- Ubisoft Quebec, started 1 June 2005, based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
- Red Storm Entertainment based in Cary, North Carolina, United States, founded in 1996 and acquired in August 2000.
- Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, founded in 1984 as Reflections Interactive and acquired in 26 August 2006, from Atari.
- Ubisoft Romania in Bucharest, Romania, started in October 1992 and in Craiova from September 2008.
- Ubisoft San Francisco, Ubisoft’s North American headquarters.
- Ubisoft Shanghai, announced in early 2009 that their new, Shanghai studio would develop the upcoming Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title, I Am Alive, instead of the originally expected Darkworks.
- Ubisoft Singapore, started on August 2008. Ubisoft cited the Singapore government’s demonstrated interest and support for the video game industry, together with other factors such as the quality of Singapore’s universities and training institutions, as reasons for opening a studio there. Ubisoft Singapore is focused on developing their own game titles.
- Ubisoft Taiwan
- Ubisoft Toronto, announced on 6 July 2009, is led by Jade Raymond. Their first productions will include a new installment of the Splinter Cell series made by staff coming from the series’ core team at Ubisoft Montreal.
- Ubisoft Ukraine, started 29 April 2008.
- Quazal, acquired in 4 November 2010.