Ubisoft acquires Gameloft's India studio

Ubisoft has announced an agreement to acquire Gameloft's development studio based in Pune, India.

Established in 2006, the studio currently has a team of 120 developers and testers who will initially focus on porting titles to handheld consoles and reinforcing Ubisoft's testing teams.

"Following on the recent announcement of our new Singapore studio, this acquisition will reinforce Ubisoft's presence in Asia and the southeast region in particular," said Christine Burgess-Quémard, executive director, worldwide studios at Ubisoft.

"India has a promising future in the videogame industry and this is an opportunity for us to establish ourselves in the country."

Ubisoft's goal is to increase the studio's development team to 200 members within a year, and to reach 500 developers in the coming years.

Pune - known as the "Oxford of the East" - sees 80,000 engineers graduate each year from its university system.

No financial terms of the arrangement were disclosed. The agreement is expected to close during the first quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year.