USA/France: Storyland Studios Partners with Ubisoft to Develop Next-Gen Themed Entertainment Experiences
California-based international experience design and production firm Storyland Studios and the video game publisher Ubisoft, headquartered in Paris, announce their partnership to develop a new generation of tech-enabled, in-person themed entertainment experiences. The agreement puts Storyland at the helm of designing two multi-brand themed entertainment offerings based on Ubisoft’s game worlds, for fans and families across the world to enjoy. Storyland will be developing themed entertainment concepts capable of being realized in multiple locations around the world, including a full-scale Ubisoft theme park and a two- to three-hour indoor attraction. Both Ubisoft concepts will be predominantly indoor, with outdoor elements. The Storyland team expects to start presenting the concepts at the upcoming IAAPA Expo in Orlando in November 2021. For interactive play elements, Storyland will work together with Belgian company Alterface.
Ubisoft is the creator of popular properties such as “Assassin’s Creed”, “Just Dance”, “Prince of Persia”, “Rabbids” and the “Tom Clancy’s” video game series, to name a few. Over the past several years, the company has expanded beyond video games into film, television, consumer products and themed entertainment.
“Ubisoft’s stories and characters are iconic and globally recognizable. The settings within Ubisoft’s game worlds are a perfect tapestry for physical world creation – whether historic, real life, city-based, under the ocean, or on a different planet. For an experience designer like Storyland, it’s an incredibly exciting sandbox to play in. We’re thrilled to have been entrusted with this opportunity,” says Ben Thompson, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Clients at Storyland Studios.
Mathilde Bresson, LBE Manager at Ubisoft, adds, “We are impressed with Storyland’s expertise in themed entertainment and their three-dimensional story development approach. Video games and themed parks have a lot more in common than we think. We are excited to join forces with Storyland to continue exploring the potential for synergies and design immersive, innovative and unforgettable experiences based on our catalog of worlds.”
Video games have become a juggernaut within the entertainment industry, and are predicted to surpass 200 billion USD (approx. 171 billion EUR) in annual revenue by 2023. (eap)
