Sep 21, 2020 - Today, Ubisoft China announced strategic partnership with the China Winter Carnival Organizing Committee. The classic Ubisoft game Steep, featuring snowboarding and skiing will become the official game for the first China Digital Ice and Snow Games (CDISG). With a focus on esports, both online and offline activities will be organized to support this event. The two parties will also collaborate on a series of projects to innovatively promote winter sports to pave the way for the success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
CDISG is hosted by the Winter Sports Center of the General Administration of Sports of China, and the China Winter Carnival Organizing Committee, organized by Digital Winter Beijing Tech Co., Ltd., with to the goal of supporting the Chinese President Xi’s vision of engaging 300 million people with winter sports and promoting sports culture. With a total award of over one million RMB, the digital sports event consists of online and offline regional competitions, and an offline finale in Beijing in January 2021 with 48 players. The event is endorsed by stars in esports, sports and entertainment, attracting considerable attention on the Internet.
The sports stars played Steep at CDISG’s kick-off ceremony in August Steep was developed by Ubisoft Annecy as the lead studio. Since its release in 2013, it remains popular and currently has 15 million players worldwide. The game vividly recreates the magnificence of the Alps and the Alaska Range, where dashingly dressed players compete to rise to the top of the rankings. With MMO mechanics, itis the perfect game for an esports event, and its Road to the Olympics DLC is an officially licensed product of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Zhang Nang, Under-Secretary-General of the China Winter Carnival Organizing Committee expressed, “The Sports Administration and the Organizing Committee wish to promote winter sports in an innovative fashion. Games and esports are very accessible and trendy. Steep from Ubisoft is quite unique and meets our needs very well. With Ubisoft’s support, we look forward to building a sustainable program that can benefit the winter sports industry in a long-term way.”
“It’s our honor to enter into a strategic partnership with the China Winter Carnival Organizing Committee,” said Xavier Poix, Managing Director of Ubisoft China, “Besides skiing and other winter activities in Steep, Ubisoft offers great experiences including dancing, roller-skating, mountain biking, and more with a variety of health and sports games. We would love to continue to offer fresh, exciting sports experience to sports lovers and game fans.”
Regional competitions have already kicked off. To apply to compete, players only need to upload a short video recording themselves playing the game within the rules.