Made in the UAE: Video game studio helps country reach next level

The studio’s crowning achievement so far has been the development of mobile game CSI: Hidden Crimes.

Ubisoft Abu Dhabi has 51 employees from 23 countries, and 30 per cent of staff comes from the Middle East. Delores Johnson / The National
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Abu Dhabi, with its cosmopolitan culture, young population and emphasis on media development, has been an ideal foothold for video game studio Ubisoft.

ABU DHABI // When video game developer Ubisoft was looking to establish a presence in the Middle East, the company found the right combination in the capital.

Led by Yannick Theler, a Swiss national, the company opened its Abu Dhabi studio in April 2012, and its crowning achievement so far has been the development of the mobile game CSI: Hidden Crimes.

Mr Theler said that since its release on May 1 last year, the game, which is available for free online, has been downloaded 25 million times in more than 120 countries.

“It was produced, developed, conceptualised and now operated commercially from Abu Dhabi,” the studio’s managing director said.

“It is online and we have a team here following the game, adding new features, communicating with people – everything is done here.”

The company has 51 employees with 23 nationalities, and 30 per cent of staff comes from the Middle East.

Mr Theler said the studio hoped to have 100 employees within five years.

“The challenge is if we have to hire someone with specific expertise that we don’t have here,” he said. “We have to hunt these people down. We have to push and to show them that the city is amazing. Sometimes people don’t know.”

He said he hoped to have the first Emirati join the team soon.

“We have positions open,” Mr Theler said. “Their expertise can be developed, or if they have expertise for us. We are growing step by step. I don’t want to grow too fast – we have to learn to develop the expertise of people and build around that.”

He was full of praise for Abu Dhabi and its media free zone, where Ubisoft has set up its business: “It’s a cosmopolitan city. Everybody speaks English, and on top of that there’s twofour54.

“The Government of Abu Dhabi is trying to develop a vision, and part of that vision is media. It’s interesting for us to be in a place where we have a lot of companies thinking and developing products around our core business.”

Established in 1986 in France, Ubisoft has grown to 29 studios around the globe, producing popular video game hits such as the Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell series.

Because of its high percentage of youth – with as much as 50 per cent of the overall population below the age of 25 years – the company thought the region’s demographic profile justified establishing a presence here.

“The idea was to come and set up a studio, and to try to develop expertise here as well,” Mr Theler said.

“Video games, with the technology and the way it is evolving today, it is difficult to find experts. We cannot find all of these people in one central space. We need to have different locations.”

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Made in the UAE

An increasing flow of locally produced goods is positive news for the UAE’s energy dependent economy, but increasing manufactured exports will require overcoming some significant obstacles. Oil and gas, which accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s GDP, has long held the banner for the “made in the UAE” label, but plunging oil prices have once again exposed the perils of having an economy driven by a single powerful industry.

This five-part series profiles companies, products and goods, all made in the UAE.

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esamoglou@thenational.ae