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On the March 31, global video game publisher and developer Ubisoft released ‘The Smurfs and Co: Spellbound’, the sequel to the successful ‘The Smurfs and Co’ Facebook game. The new iteration was made available to play in Arabic since day one. As the project reached the development stage of translations, it was decided that Arabic would be part of it “without any hesitation,” according to Vincent Douvier, Director of Operations at Ubisoft Abu Dhabi. This is the second Ubisoft Arabic game since the Ubisoft Abu Dhabi studio opened its door.

In the game, your quest is to save every other smurf that has turned into stone after a failed experiment by arch nemesis Gargamel resulted in a toxic cloud that contaminated your tiny village and hardened everyone into position. Following the animated intro, you are prompted to choose between a male Smurf or Sassette, a female smurf, after which you embark on your quest to save your fellow smurfs and smurfettes and rebuild your village.

Back in April of 2012, Ubisoft officially opened its Abu Dhabi studio. It was the first time a worldwide developer had set foot in the Middle East. The office was part of Ubisoft’s goal to enter the Arab World market and operate games for Arab players. In July 2012, the Operations Department, in charge of operating Arab games started its work.

The story behind the localization of the game goes back to the summer 2012, when Vincent, along with other members from Ubisoft, noticed Smurfs plushies on the shelves of an isolated gas station in Oman. “We then knew that the Smurfs were well known and respected in the Middle East. We also knew that we had a live Facebook Smurfs game. Putting one and one together was a natural move.”

One week later, the Ubisoft Chengdu studio, which is in charge of The Smurfs and Co, began the process to implement Arabic.

“We did have to adapt a few words here in there for the Arab World, but this was minor as the Smurfs are already so present in the region for a long time, hence all the materials needed were available in Arabic,” he explains.

Vincent was also keen to note that the interfaces was designed in a way that were fitting to the player habits in the region.

The worldwide release came about four months later on the 3rd of July 2013 and was an instant hit. So far the game has gathered over 1.3 million Arab players and is still growing.

Vincent also notes: “These two first games in Arabic helped us understanding better the specifities of each country in the Middle East and North Africa, how they play and how they all come together to make one entity. These are key elements in order to be able to enrich the local players’ lives by creating original and memorable gaming experiences which is our ultimate goal.”

Right after the international release, another Ubisoft game Prince of Persia the Shadow and the Flame was released worldwide on the 25th of July. The game was developed by Ubisoft Pune with several months long collaboration with Ubisoft Abu Dhabi, which meant that the Arabic was supported from the release day. The game is available on both iOS and Android. This was Ubisoft first mobile game in Arabic, and the 3rd Arabic game with Ubisoft Abu Dhabi involved.

Looking ahead, the Abu Dhabi studio operation team is working on more games for the Arab World, and not only localization.

“The knowledge gathered enables us to culturalize games in the proper way, because as you know it is not about mirroring all interfaces. This would be the wrong and disrespectful way of providing games to the Arab audience and it would not enrich the players’ lives.”

In early September, Ubisoft released Rayman Legends with Arabic support on PlayStation VITA and announced that Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag would have Arabic subtitles. Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag releases on the end of October on all consoles.

By the end of the year, Ubisoft will have games supporting Arab on consoles, mobiles, PCs and handheld consoles.