Videogame publishing giant Ubisoft is currently hiring for an “unannounced AAA VR project.”
The company currently has nine high-level listings related to the project in Dusseldorf, Germany (first spotted by VRFocus). One for a Senior Game Designer role states that successful applicants “will work on cutting-edge VR technology, on one of Ubisoft’s great IP’s, developed across multiple studios.”
Other roles currently being sought include a Senior Technical Artist, Senior Level Artist, Senior General Programmer, Build & Release Engineer, Art Director and Level Design Director. In its report, VRFocus claims that Ubisoft is building a 50+ person team to work on the project, with many positions still to be listed. We’ve reached out to Ubisoft to confirm this claim and will update this article when we hear back.
Update: An Ubisoft spokesperson issued us with the following statement: “We are working on the next VR Escape Room for 2020, as well as a new AAA VR project for which we are currently hiring.”
Interestingly, Ubisoft is also hiring a Lead Character Artist for a VR project in Newcastle, UK. It’s not clear if this is for the same project or something else.
Splinter Cell Returns?
The listings appear amid reports that Ubisoft is developing two new VR games based on its IP. The first is reportedly Splinter Cell VR, marking a return of a long-loved stealth series. An Assassin’s Creed VR game is also apparently in the works. If the reports are true, these games will be exclusive to Oculus headsets. Recently, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said to expect Splinter Cell on “different devices”.
Dusseldorf is where one of the company’s Blue Byte offices is based. Blue Byte is a network of three studios based in Germany. The team is behind the Anno series of City Simulation games. It also often assists with the development of other major Ubisoft titles. Newcastle, meanwhile, houses the Ubisoft Reflections team. Again, the team largely contributes to the creation of other major projects.
This will be far from Ubisoft’s first VR game. Back in 2016 the company launched titles like Eagle Flight and Werewolves Within. Later down the line it released Star Trek: Bridge Crew and most recently worked on a zero-gravity multiplayer shooter named Space Junkies. If these recent rumors turn out to be true, we could see at least one Ubisoft VR game announced at Oculus Connect 6 later this month.
