Ubisoft has purchased Hybride Technologies, the Montreal-based visual effects studio behind several commercial, television and film projects; the studio is best known for its work on the films Spy Kids, 300 and Sin City. Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot says the acquisition is part of the company's plans to extend its brands to other forms of entertainment.

Hybride and Ubisoft will move forward by sharing technology and developing tools for video games and visual effects. The acquisition is initially expected to generate sales of 6 -7 million Euros. We're certainly curious to hear what the first game will be that uses Hybride's artists post-purchase in its production.

Just weeks after bringing on Maxis vet Jeff Braun, developer Red Mile has announced the appointment of a new company president, elevating industry consultant Simon Price to the company's throne. According to Red Mile, the move is part of a larger restructuring effort to "streamline costs" and "increase focus," corporate jargon that usually means some employees will be given their walking papers. Company CFO Ben Zadik already resigned as part of the effort on March 1, but plans to help in a consulting role for the next couple of months.

Price, who has worked as a consultant for the company since it was founded in 2004, replaces former EA Canada president Glenn Wong, who stepped down at the end of February. According to Red Mile, Price has helped the company "in its efforts to identify and secure rights to key franchise titles," which given the company's recently released (and abysmal) Jackass and the upcoming (and hopefully good) Sin City, we figure the new exec is batting about .500.

Jeff Braun, who started Maxis in 1987 with Will Wright and co-created SimCity, is now a "strategic adviser" for Sin City developer Red Mile. Braun will work with Red Mile president Glenn Wong to make the best use of the Sin City license and turn the company best known for GripShift and, oy vey, Jackass: The Game into something better.

Braun believes the big challenge for Red Mile is to run with Sin City and make it a triple-A title so that the company can become a top-tier publisher. Wonder if that means we should still expect an early '09 release? Working with Glenn Wong, who was a former president at EA Canada, Braun believes the company can achieve its goals. Hopefully this means Red Mile is going to put some serious work into Sin City and it'll be a licensed game we can eagerly anticipate.

It isn't much, but developer Red Mile did tell MCV that its game adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City is expected in early 2009. Beyond that the only other thing we know about the game is that it runs on the Unreal Engine 3, which we know is absolutely thrilling to be aware of. With an early '09 release attached to it now, hopefully we'll start getting some information soon -- a couple screenshots would be nice.

Red Mile Entertainment's game to kill for, Sin City, is set to be powered by the increasingly pervasive Unreal Engine 3. The developer announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Gears of War monger Epic Games, with president and COO Glenn Wong describing the technology as a "perfect fit for our Sin City video games." Said games are to be based upon Frank Miller's popular series of Sin City graphic novels, which recently served as basis for a successful 2005 film (confusingly titled "Sin City").

Not much is known about the initial game at this stage, save for the fact that it'll be overseen by Escape from Butcher Bay writer, Flint Dille. Oh, and that it'll be powered by Unreal Engine 3. We should probably write a news post about that.