Ubisoft to make bigger but fewer games during next gen, CEO says
James Archer September 14, 2012 - 10:51 amNews: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reckons the company will produce fewer games during the next console generation, though they will be larger and will employ more diverse business models.
With the prospect of a new generation of consoles hanging around the games industry like one of those really fat flies buzzing around the head of a writer trying to concentrate on a news post, many developers have already made their plans. Take Ubisoft, for instance – CEO Yves Guillemot has indicated, as part of an interview with the Guardian, that the company will focus on “bigger” games released less frequently, as well as expanding their efforts in free-to-play and other alternate business models:
“With next gen consoles, it’s going toward bigger games, and yes, we will make less of them. But with free-to-play games, the teams aren’t as big so we can try different things and find subjects that are of interest to consumers.
“We announced Mighty Quest for Epic Loot last week, and we are announcing new types of games. This new environment is actually giving us the chance – because we’re reaching new consumers – to develop new types of game brand and experience.”
The recently-announced Assassin’s Creed: Utopia demonstrates Ubi’s toe-dipping into F2P, albeit on a smaller scale than Mighty Quest for Epic Loot. Speaking of the former, a movement towards less frequent releases has interesting implications on Assassin’s Creed as a franchise, potentially ending its annual release habit.
Guillemot also commented on Ubisoft’s abandonment of always-on PC DRM, acknowledging the need to balance compensating developers with the demands of players:
“The goal is to make sure we can create content that will be paid for; everything we’ve been trying to do, which hasn’t always been popular, is to make sure we give our creative staff more to put into their games – the higher the revenue, the better the games can be.
“But we saw that it caused problems and we’ve made it lighter. Our systems are no different than what we see with other companies. We have to make sure our customers are happy. We weren’t happy about the trouble. From the beginning, the goal of this company has been to make sure gamers are pleased.”
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Comments (2)
They need to make up their mind… :/
“We weren’t happy about the trouble.”
Then why did you wait so long? I’ve actually got nothing against DRM, but when it gets in the way of my being able to play a game I purchase (whether you want to point of that it’s just a license or not doesn’t matter), then that’s when I (and others) have a problem.