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Rainbow Six: Siege
Ubisoft Barcelona and taking advantage of the local talent - Javier Capel Interview
We caught up with Ubisoft Barcelona studio manager Javier Capel in Málaga to discuss about hiring talent in video games, currently hot profiles for open job positions, and the importance of education in the industry.
Audio transcription
"Alright, we are in Málaga for the Gamelab Nexus event and I'm here joined by Javier who was talking about Ubisoft Barcelona yesterday and it's interesting because even though this is an event in Málaga, many studios are based in Barcelona which I guess it's just good advice for those who are starting here in Málaga."
"So, first and foremost, what did you say about finding talent and hiring talent in Barcelona?
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
So, it's interesting because, as you said, we were one of the first companies at Barcelona."
"It was built, in fact, created 25 years ago, in 1998.
And so we were one of the first companies in the city and, you know, at that time there was not that many talent, there was not that many, let's say, degrees or masters or education in general for video games."
"In 25 years this changed a lot.
Today, I would say, one of the biggest opportunities or strengths of Barcelona is its talent.
Now we have many degrees, many universities, masters, education in general.
We have an incredible indie context around us, many companies and that's the best way of cultivating that talent and making super extremely good professionals for the industry."
"So, looking back all those 25 years from where you joined the new studio and what it is now, how do you feel about that?
How do you feel about the current teams and the current situation of the company in Barcelona, specifically for Ubisoft?
It changed a lot."
"I think that when we arrived to Barcelona, I mean, I was there for 23 years now, there was no, as I said, there was no education, there was no one else.
We were starting to do video games and we didn't know how, and let's say it was something really really new."
"Today, we have many many students that they are really experienced, they have already some projects that they already started, the degrees.
So, in fact, the professionalism of the starting point is much higher now.
Which is the most difficult to get position or role when you want to hire?
For example, I've seen there's a lot of job offers for technical artists as of late."
"They are very very popular right now.
And then you have a lot of 2D artists, concept artists.
So, which one would you say is the easiest or the hardest to get?
Yeah, sometimes it's complicated because it depends really on the project and on the exact thing you're looking for."
"It's true that sometimes it's probably a bit easier to get an artist, to get a designer, to get those roles that are really common or well-known.
And normally, the tech profiles inside or in the middle of those professions are a bit harder."
"As you said, technical artist, technical designer, some kind of...
They are not that common, not so many of them are needed in big projects.
So, it's hard to grow and to make those professions.
So, those technical positions are probably hardest."
"Now that you mentioned projects, you guys have a couple of projects in the works.
One is, of course, ongoing for many years and that's Rainbow.
And we were talking with Kilian a couple of years ago, here in Malaga precisely.
And he gave us this fantastic interview telling us about how you take care of Rainbow as an ongoing game."
"So, what can you tell me about that game?
And I don't know if you can tell me anything about the other secret game that you guys are working on.
Yes. So, Rainbow, it's amazing."
"I mean, the team is super happy to hear the reactions and the players, what they say, what they experience.
All the changes that the game has been having in the last years are going in the right direction."
"I mean, we think and we see that it's creating a change.
We are today more than 85 million players.
It's three or four players every day playing the game.
And for us, it's kind of a dream."
"I mean, we are in a game where people really, really enjoy it and it's super successful.
You keep doing things for it.
Which was the latest thing that you guys released?
In fact, we just released the Battle Cap."
"It was released, in fact, last week.
And the team is super proud of it.
It's something that we were working on for some years already and it's super exciting."
"Apart from that, I'll just say that the team keeps growing in Barcelona for Rainbow Six.
I mean, we were more than 100 last year.
We are 120 around now."
"And we're going to keep growing in that team.
And I guess that's a big no comment for the other project?
Yeah, I cannot talk about the other project.
But you mentioned when you joined the studio and when you joined the company."
"And I know you have a very interesting background which sort of combines coding and programming and design.
And now you don't do any of those at Ubisoft.
What can you tell me about that evolution of you yourself?
The truth is that, in fact, I'm an engineer by default."
"But when I came to Ubisoft, I joined as a level designer in Pro Rally.
Because I loved racing games.
It was something I loved from the beginning."
"So at that time, I got at Ubisoft and I was doing the circuits on Pro Rally.
Well, the circuits, the manual, the menus, the handling of the car."
"At that time, as I said before, we were a really small team.
Which game did you say?
Pro Rally. 2002, in fact.
So I was a level designer."
"I moved to game design, to lead game design.
Then I moved to production, which was a bigger step.
Because you start putting your hands directly on the game.
Your scissors."
"Yeah, exactly. Now you have the scissors.
And you know, it's different.
You have a big team and you have to make them do the best game possible."
"And from there, later, I became a studio manager.
So now it's different teams, let's say.
But you don't have an active role in development or in art or in design, right?
I still play all the games we do."
"I still review and I still manage with the team.
But you know, I try not to, let's say, put my hands on the things.
Because the team is much better than me at doing games."
"It's their job now.
Very honest of yourself.
Is there any position that you guys have open as of today?
Because yesterday we were talking about hiring, etc."
"I don't know if there is anything that you would like young developers or designers to be on alert about.
In fact, I don't think they are open now.
But we're probably going to be looking for more artists for Rainbow Six soon."
"Soon enough.
That's it.
Thank you so much for your time, Javier.
It's been a pleasure.
Thank you."
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