Game Maker Ubisoft Buys VFX Studio Hybride

[Josh]

Ubisoft has acquired Hybride Technologies, a Montreal-based vfx studio specializing in film, TV and advertising.

Created more than 15 years ago, Hybride employs 80 team members. The studio's many projects include such innovative films as 300, SIN CITY and the SPY KIDS series.

Ubisoft will work closely with Hybride to share technology and to develop tools in order to optimize the creation of both video games and vfx and to offer gamers visual experiences that rival those of the cinema. At the same time, Hybride will continue to work with its film partners while also bringing its expertise to leverage Ubisoft's intellectual properties for the movie industry.

"The future of our industry depends on our ability to create brands that captivate audiences and to extend those brands to other forms of entertainment," said Yves Guillemot, CEO at Ubisoft. "The acquisition of Hybride falls directly into the strategy that has already led us to open a digital creation studio in Montreal and to acquire the Tom Clancy brand for video games and ancillary products. The exceptional quality of the team at Hybride and the expertise of our Ubisoft teams will allow us to create one of the best 3-D animation studios in the entertainment industry."

"It is the quality and innovation of our artists that made Hybride into one of the most successful studios in cinema and the most important visual effects producer on the North American East Coast," said Pierre Raymond, founder and CEO at Hybride Technologies. "The sharing of technological and creative expertise between Ubisoft and Hybride will position the two companies at the head of the pack in an entertainment industry in rapid evolution."

In addition to bringing its technological knowledge and its collaboration to Ubisoft's brands, Hybride will continue to work with its external partners. The forecast for this visual effects creation activity for cinema, television and advertising will initially generate sales of approximately 6 to 7 million Euros and a current operating income of about 10 percent of sales.

A video montage of both Hybride and Ubisoft projects can be seen at [url=\"http://uplay.us.ubi.com/\"]http://uplay.us.ubi.com/[/url].