Ubisoft opens Brazil studio

Ubisoft went on an international expansion tear in April, acquiring a studio near Mumbai, India, announcing the October opening of a shop in Casablanca, Morocco, and beefing up the employee headcount in its Kiev, Ukraine, offices. Now the publisher is branching out into South America and today announced the formation of Ubisoft Sao Paulo.

Set to open its doors next month, the development house in the economic heart of Brazil will aim to grow from an initial staff of 20 to more than 200 developers within the next four years. Heading up the Brazilian team's efforts will be Bertrand Chaverot, who ran Ubisoft's sales subsidiary in the country from 1999 to 2003.

As for what the studio will work on, Ubisoft has said that "after an initial training period," the Sao Paulo shop will collaborate with the publisher's other locations to create "family-oriented titles" for consoles and portables. Ubisoft Sao Paulo will be the publisher's 20th worldwide development studio.