Ubisoft ramps up casual games production

Ubisoft is the latest publisher to strengthen its offering in the casual games market, as the French giant looks to expand with a new product offering for Wii and DS.

The new division will be lead by Pauline Jacquey, executive producer of casual games for Ubisoft.

The publisher is developing new IP My Coach — a line of interactive learning games, as well as the promise to grow its 3.5 million-selling Petz franchise.

"Ubisoft has a proven track record of publishing and creating videogames for non-traditional gaming audiences, with multimillion-selling brands like Petz and Rayman," said Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.

"The timing is right for us to leverage our creativity and to open up the videogames market to new consumers who will be attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an entertaining way."

My Word Coach is due for release this autumn on Nintendo formats, with My Life Coach scheduled for Christmas 2007.