Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., today announced that Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world's largest and most successful video game producers and publishers, has purchased SOFTIMAGEXSI, the industry?s leading nonlinear 3-D production environment. Already, Ubi Soft is relying on the SOFTIMAGEXSI software to develop film-quality cinematics and high-end animation for upcoming titles including the widely anticipated multi-platform game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the latest title in the multi-million selling Prince of Persia series. In an era where gamers are increasingly demanding engaging, cinema-quality productions, Ubi Soft, which has grown in annual revenue from ?96.4m to ?453m in the past 5 years, is planning to set new standards in interactive entertainment by immersing players in life-like environments with a film-quality visual experience and realistic ambient sounds. To achieve this, Ubi Soft recently created a new cinematics division, placing the SOFTIMAGEXSI environment at the core of its production pipeline to create high-end animation and graphics work. "The mandate of our team is to create games with the visual qualities of a movie, but without the luxury of a typical movie budget. We chose SOFTIMAGEXSI because it was the only software that could deliver the superior visual quality we needed, within the demanding time and budgetary constraints we faced," commented Ron Martin, director of cinematics at Ubi Soft. "After a few short weeks of use, we found XSI to foster a greater level of creativity and collaboration, increasing our productivity and reducing our typical project turnaround time. And as gamers will soon see, it has also enabled us to create a breathtaking visual experience." "Ubi Soft is aiming to be a driving force behind the convergence of cinema and interactive entertainment and we are honored by their selection of SOFTIMAGEXSI to be a core part of that initiative," said Michael Stojda, managing director of Softimage. "Their purchase is a clear endorsement and signal to the game industry of Softimage?s focus and commitment to continually deliver innovative technology and productivity enhancing tools for the games industry. It also demonstrates the stunning quality and return on investment SOFTIMAGEXSI provides - whether used to developing hit games titles, feature films, or helping to streamline the process when the two converge." One should take note that Softimage is used by a whole load of Ubi Soft competititors too. Valve Software's upcoming Half -Life 2 used Softimage, as does Square Software for the breathtaking Final Fantasy series or Konami for the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill series.