Square Enix Brings Ubisoft Home
Western development brought further into Japan with YUBIAISOFUTO!
A message from Yoichi Wada
Square Enix has announced that it has entered into an arrangement with Ubisoft to distribute the French publisher's titles in Japan.
The deal will see Square able to distribute Ubisoft titles in Japan as of April, although exactly which titles will be released will be revealed at a later date.
While the official announcement is scant on detail beyond that, IGN reports that Square's president, Yoichi Wada, spoke about the move with Japanese gaming bible Famitsu and said that the Japanese company will work with Ubisoft in other, undisclosed ways.
The Ubisoft deal marks the second time Square has brought overseas content to Japan - the first being its publishing of UK developer Frontier Games' Lost Winds for WiiWare.
“The global video game market is expected to maintain sustainable growth thanks to geographical expansion and diversification of customer base", said Wada. "By partnering with the Ubisoft Group having a number of highly acclaimed titles, we can now work to provide high-quality overseas-produced games to Japan, thus invigorating the Japanese game market while strengthening our presence as a global leader in the video game industry."
Square has made several moves on the international stage of late. As well as the aforementioned publication of Lost Winds, the company has struck up a "strategic partnership" with US developer Gas Powered Games and has reportedly been eyeing up ailing Britsoft publisher Eidos.
The move is also another sign of a wind change in game development. The fact that Japan's most prominent third-party publisher is using Western games content to bolster its domestic line-up is further indication that the country is losing its footing as the centre of the gaming world.
This comes just a few days after SPOnG brought you news that Jun Takeuchi, producer of Resident Evil 5, is "worried about the movements of Western developers."
The deal will see Square able to distribute Ubisoft titles in Japan as of April, although exactly which titles will be released will be revealed at a later date.
While the official announcement is scant on detail beyond that, IGN reports that Square's president, Yoichi Wada, spoke about the move with Japanese gaming bible Famitsu and said that the Japanese company will work with Ubisoft in other, undisclosed ways.
The Ubisoft deal marks the second time Square has brought overseas content to Japan - the first being its publishing of UK developer Frontier Games' Lost Winds for WiiWare.
“The global video game market is expected to maintain sustainable growth thanks to geographical expansion and diversification of customer base", said Wada. "By partnering with the Ubisoft Group having a number of highly acclaimed titles, we can now work to provide high-quality overseas-produced games to Japan, thus invigorating the Japanese game market while strengthening our presence as a global leader in the video game industry."
Square has made several moves on the international stage of late. As well as the aforementioned publication of Lost Winds, the company has struck up a "strategic partnership" with US developer Gas Powered Games and has reportedly been eyeing up ailing Britsoft publisher Eidos.
The move is also another sign of a wind change in game development. The fact that Japan's most prominent third-party publisher is using Western games content to bolster its domestic line-up is further indication that the country is losing its footing as the centre of the gaming world.
This comes just a few days after SPOnG brought you news that Jun Takeuchi, producer of Resident Evil 5, is "worried about the movements of Western developers."
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Comments
Joji 8 Jan 2009 14:33
1/1
Great news. Both Ubisoft and Square make cool games, so there's a lot of talent that can learn from each other.
Square can do well to have the likes of Assassin's Creed, PoP, I Am Alive, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon in their camp. Action games are that vital area Square have lacked a lot.
I can't wait to see how I Am Alive goes down in japan, since they are used to natural disasters (then there's Irem's Zettai Zetsumei series).
Square can do well to have the likes of Assassin's Creed, PoP, I Am Alive, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon in their camp. Action games are that vital area Square have lacked a lot.
I can't wait to see how I Am Alive goes down in japan, since they are used to natural disasters (then there's Irem's Zettai Zetsumei series).