French video gaming powerhouse Ubisoft Entertainment, the publisher behind hit action-adventure franchise Assassin’s Creed, has appointed a new Shanghai studio head amid a tough environment in the world’s largest video gaming market.
Yang Zhihong, a Chinese native with nearly 20 years experience, will be the new managing director for Ubisoft Shanghai from the beginning of 2024, according to a LinkedIn post by Ubisoft China Studios on Wednesday. The Shanghai unit is one of two studios the French firm has set up in China.
Yang replaces Jean-Francois Vallee, who has led the Shanghai team since 2021 and who is moving to lead the French firm’s studios in Southeast Asia and India.
Yang joined Ubisoft in 2004 and has contributed to the development of titles including the Splinter Cell and Far Cry Primal franchises.
He is currently the lead producer of the Chinese edition of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, an action role-playing game first launched globally in 2019, according to the company. His appointment was announced the same day as the Chinese edition went online.
Ubisoft, which is backed by Chinese gaming heavyweight Tencent Holdings, began to adjust its China business earlier this year amid challenging times for the market in the wake of a regulatory crackdown and weak consumer sentiment.
Ubisoft in May closed its official online store on Tmall, in a decision to end direct merchandise sales in mainland China amid falling revenue in the year to March 31, and a “challenging” period that prompted cost-reduction efforts.
Foreign video games developers have been under increased scrutiny in recent years in mainland China, which now censors gaming content in the same manner as TV dramas and films.
ByteDance makes big cuts at gaming studio in retreat from stagnating market
ByteDance makes big cuts at gaming studio in retreat from stagnating market
Foreign titles must be localised and apply for a licence through a Chinese partner before they can legally generate revenue in the country.
However, Ubisoft reaffirmed its commitment to the country in its statement and said Yang and the team would work to “elevate Ubisoft Shanghai into a world-class studio, with a specific focus on developing expertise in creating open worlds, operating live games, and launching successful and meaningful games in the distinctive Chinese market”.
“I’m honoured and excited to step into a new role and embark on this new journey with an extremely talented team … while exploring vast opportunities in the dynamic Chinese market,” Yang said in the statement.
Aside from the Shanghai studio set up as early as 1996, Ubisoft has another studio in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province, which was established in 2008.
The personnel change comes as China’s video gaming market continues to battle sluggish consumer spending and recover from a regulatory overhang.
Earlier this week, TikTok-owner ByteDance reportedly closed most projects not yet online at its main gaming unit Nuverse, with hundreds of job cuts. The Beijing-based firm later confirmed it had made the difficult decision to “restructure our gaming business”.
In the first half of 2023, overall revenue in China’s gaming industry fell 2.4 per cent year on year to 144.3 billion yuan (US$20.35 billion), while the number of gamers was 668 million, barely changed from the year before.