Ubisoft and Chinese mobile game publisher Ourpalm have come to an agreement that will see the pair collaborating on a mobile MMORPG for China based on Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise.
The pair have been working together since at least the fall of 2014, when Ourpalm cut a deal with Ubisoft to publish some of its games in China, starting with the mobile game Hungry Shark Evolution from Ubisoft-owned studio Future Games of London.
The fact that Ubisoft is deepening that partnership (in addition to developing a mobile Assassin’s Creed game, Ourpalm will also publish Hungry Shark Evolution sequel Hungry Shark World) suggests the company sees meaningful value in the Chinese mobile market, which is seen to be shifting away from casual games and towards “core” titles as it drives a surge in mobile game installs.
The upcoming Assassin’s Creed mobile MMORPG is being developed by Ourpalm’s Beijing-based development team (Ourpalm exec Zhang Pei described them as “our most experienced team” in a press release on the topic) in collaboration with Ubisoft Montreal.