Ubisoft to develop games for iPhone, iPod Touch

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 5th 2008 at 10:25AM }

Touchy-feely casual game news now, with Ubisoft revealing plans to bring its Games for Everyone range to everyone who has an iPhone or an iPod Touch. In an interview with CasualGaming.biz, Games For Everyone executive producer, Pauline Jacquey, explained that Ubisoft wanted to target a wider range of platforms, including those used for listening to music or yapping with friends.

"We don't want to keep it too narrow," said Jacquey. "We'll be making games not only on PC, PS3 and 360, but on iPhone and iPod touch as well. When it comes to the mobile industry, Ubisoft sister company Gameloft looks after that and I'm not in charge of it. They will be borrowing more from the Games For Everyone range."

She neglects to mention which games or brands we can expect to be iPhoned in, but an informed gamer will tell you that they'll probably have titles ending in "z." You know, Dogz, Hamsterz, Beyond Good & Evilz ... those types of thingz.

Tags: Gameloft, Games-for-Everyone, iPhone, iPod, iPod-Touch, Ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

PojoMofo @ Jun 5th 2008 10:35AM

Smart, mobile gaming is HUGE in Japan, and will be here soon. Gameloft makes some of the best ones IMO. Seems like a no-brainer

Jerk @ Jun 5th 2008 10:42AM

Yes! More platforms for the "Z" franchises to flourish on!

/sarcasm off

mark @ Jun 5th 2008 10:45AM

Hmmm, maybe saying 'games for everybody' while developing for iPhone and touch is a little too far - 'games for rich hipsters'? maybe?

danny. @ Jun 5th 2008 10:53AM

I'm more of a middle class hipster iPhone user myself

Arno @ Jun 5th 2008 10:55AM

Which part are you complaining about? Hipster or rich?

mark @ Jun 5th 2008 11:23AM

Um, i'm not really complaining about either - just that it would seem to me that the target audience of the 'z' games and other casual games is unlikely to be able to afford or be interested in getting an iphone or ipod touch.

Although Beyond Good and Evilz could be very tempting on my wallet...

NATO_Duke @ Jun 5th 2008 1:11PM

I think you would find many of us who game have an iPhone, and that doesn't mean we are rich hipsters.

I think that it would be nice to see some titles come to it from Ubi, and its another market for them to tap.

mark @ Jun 6th 2008 10:39AM

@NATO_Duke

I agree that it would be very nice to see more general games on more devices but thats not my point - gamers might have iPhones and ipod touches i'm not sure how many of them would want to play the casual games that have come from ubisoft so far - then agian on other mobiles Gameloft has made mobile games from games like rainbow six...so perhaps beyond good and evil isn't too far fetched...

KOBES-ACCUSER @ Jun 5th 2008 10:45AM

UBINOOBS!!!! Need to quit, Rainbow 6 vegas was good but other than that they suck...HAZE UM UBINOOBS

goboColossus (LIVE, PSN - gobopop) @ Jun 5th 2008 11:46AM

They've been making games for upwards of 22 years, they are hardly "Noobs."

And if Rainbow Six Vegas is the best title you could come up with from their extensive (especially in the last 5 years) library, maybe it isn't their game development that's off... Could be your taste.

Beyond Good & Evil FTW.

jay @ Jun 5th 2008 10:56AM

The new iPhone will be $199 and will become a real gaming platform.

melloncollie @ Jun 5th 2008 11:03AM

You're kidding me, right?
The iPhone will not be able to compete with the DS or the PSP. It's a phone that just so happens to be able to play games. Just like any other phone.

ill trooper @ Jun 5th 2008 3:31PM

"The iPhone will not be able to compete with the DS or the PSP."

No, it's won't, if you're thinking of it as a device to sell to people that want to play God of War or Pokemon. But if you think of it the other way, how can the PSP or the DS ever compete with the iPhone? It's a popular phone/portable platform in a different market! They can co-exist and Ubi is expecting to see some iPhone/Touch users who want to play some games.

Oi Chez! What do you want Fizz? @ Jun 5th 2008 11:00AM

Awesome. Hope they announce a 32gb iPhone in a few days and fill up on Ubisoft games!

samfish @ Jun 5th 2008 11:04AM

I guess crapping all over Nintendo just wasn't enough for Ubisoft.

velocitySTRIKE @ Jun 5th 2008 12:13PM

"We'll be making games not only on PC, PS3 and 360, but on iPhone and iPod touch as well."

Well after crapping all over them, they forgot Nintendo even existed!

ill trooper @ Jun 5th 2008 3:13PM

Maybe, but actually UBI has been one of the few third-party companies that tried doing versions of their major games for the Wii - Splinter Cell and FarCry were some of the only things that a non-WiiSPorts type of person might have tried. Plus RavingRabids is Ubi, no? Eh, maybe they just aren't seeing the sales to justify it.

Marty @ Jun 5th 2008 11:09AM

I still don't understand why companies are jumping all over the iPhone when there's a much larger install base of people with regular old (and perfectly capable) phones out there, not to mention the tenfold amounts more who have DS / PSP.

samfish @ Jun 5th 2008 11:48AM

If I had to guess, it's probably because the iPhone has a set of unified standards and controls while other phones generally don't, thus it's probably easier in that respect to develop for it.

Phillip @ Jun 5th 2008 11:58AM

Plus the data and voice plans are so expensive they assume people are willing to buy games and applications.

danny. @ Jun 5th 2008 12:08PM

the iPhone service is only $20 on top of whatever phone plan you choose. It's worth it to me for the functionality it provides (internet, google maps, email, etc.). I understand it's not worth it to everyone, but I don't think it's a waste at all for me.

Oi Chez! What do you want Fizz? @ Jun 5th 2008 12:31PM

There are a lot of iPod Touches out there. A huge market to tap into.

NATO_Duke @ Jun 5th 2008 1:15PM

Marty, I think you see them jump on it because its been a closed platform and now that they can develop for it they are expressing their desire to do so. I would expect them to stake out the market like this to see how its seen by consumers and what those people will want - since right now we have no real games to play.

ill trooper @ Jun 5th 2008 3:13PM

As for the 'why come no other phones?' question: It's a set, stable platform with a powerful OS, for developers it's likely more akin to a console/pc than other run-of-the-mill phones, plus it's about to have a major, major high-profile update next week along with the release of a dedicated application store through iTunes. It's far more organized than all the other 'capable' phone platforms out there at the moment, other than maybe the sidekick or the blackberry platform, which also have different models and screens, unlike the iPhone/iPod Touch.

And about the 'PSP/DS tenfold install base': While I own both a DS and a PSP, I rarely carry them, while I always have my phone with me (and yes, it's an iPhone). I'm guessing the audience they're going for is far more likely to be carrying only a phone.