May 21, 2007
Ubisoft
Announces Strategic Casual Video Games Expansion
Introduces New "My Coach” Line and Brings "Petz”
to New Platforms
Today Ubisoft announced that it is expanding its
casual video game business. Ubisoft has made significant investments and formed
an internal development structure dedicated to the creation of games for
everyone. Among the first projects of the new team are the introduction of the
new "My Coach” product line and the significant expansion of the already
successful Petz® franchise.
"Ubisoft has a proven track record of publishing
and creating video games for non-traditional gaming audiences, with
multimillion-selling brands like Petz and Rayman,” said Yves Guillemot, chief
executive officer at Ubisoft. "The timing is right for us to leverage our
creativity and to open up the video games market to new consumers who will be
attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an
entertaining way.”
Ubisoft’s new casual games structure will be led
by Pauline Jacquey, executive producer of casual games at Ubisoft. Pauline
joined Ubisoft in 1998, working as a producer on some of Ubisoft’s best-selling
brands including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® and Rayman®. Ubisoft will also
continue to partner with third-party developers to publish casual game titles
for the mass market.
"Ubisoft’s vision for this business is unique,”
said Pauline Jacquey. "We are developing projects that make people feel that
playing games is worth their while, allowing them to spend quality time with
family and friends, learn a new skill, or improve their daily lives. By creating
games with real-life benefits, we are creating games that appeal to everyone.”
The "My Coach” series of games will allow players
to improve themselves and learn in an interactive and stimulating way. The first
two games in the line are "My Word Coach” and "My Life Coach.” "My Word Coach,”
is being developed in collaboration with linguists and will help players improve
their verbal communication and vocabulary in a fun way. "My Word Coach” can be
played alone or with friends on Wii(TM) and Nintendo DS(TM) and will be released
in Fall 2007. "My Life Coach” is being developed in collaboration with a
behaviorist. "My Life Coach” is a personal coach that gives anybody concerned
about their well being the willpower they need to change their habits the way
they want in a motivating and fun way. "My Life Coach” will be available for the
Nintendo DS in Holiday 2007.
Ubisoft will also continue to grow its extremely
successful Petz® line of games and allow young players to learn how to take care
of that special cat, dog or horse on their Wii for the first time. The Petz
series sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide in fiscal year 2006-07.
