Ever wondered what the virtual worlds of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs might be like in real life? Well wonder no more because Ubisoft has just announced plans to build a 10,000-square-meter indoor theme park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which will open to the public some time in 2020.
The move would be the first of its kind for a major video game publisher. A post on their official company blog outlines their goals for the project.
"Ubisoft's intention for this park is to immerse people in reactive worlds where they can interact with each other and become the heroes of their own life-sized game," says Jean de Rivières, senior vice president of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, which is leading the project. He says that Ubisoft will produce all digital media for the rides, and help design guests' journey into the park to ensure the visitors' experience is at its best."
Malaysia was chosen as the location for the project due to its strong tourism industry (the 2nd most visited country in Asia according to the World Tourism Organization) and growing middle class.
No word was mentioned of which particular Ubisoft franchises and properties would be getting attractions in the yet to be named theme park. Ubisoft is co-developing the property with Malaysian real estate developer RSG.
The decision to expand into theme parks is no doubt part of Ubisoft's overall goal of broadening its scope beyond interactive entertainment. The company has invested heavily in the movie industry, and has already produced a film based on its popular 'Prince of Persia' video game series.
It's next film project, the Michael Fassbender fronted Assassin's Creed screen adaptation, will be the first to be produced under the Ubisoft Motion Pictures name. Look for that in December 2016.