Ubisoft Toronto aiming to develop five big games at once
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Ubisoft Toronto Managing Director Jade Raymond hopes to eventually have five triple-A projects going on at the studio. Speaking with Develop, she reiterated that the site is currently working on two projects, one of them the next Splinter Cell, and that the Toronto studio will eventually have five "major" projects in about ten years, when it beefs its staff roster up to 800.
Even with such a massive staff, it sounds unlikely all the development for any one game will take place in Toronto. Raymond expressed that triple-A development currently requires several Ubisoft studios working together, explaining that "once [a] team reaches over 200 people – even if they're in the same studio – you need complex management methods to make sure everything is held together; the feature development, the communication, and everything else." A year since its creation (thanks to hundreds of millions in tax breaks), Ubisoft Toronto is shaping up to be a beast -- whether local newspaper columnists like it or not.
Even with such a massive staff, it sounds unlikely all the development for any one game will take place in Toronto. Raymond expressed that triple-A development currently requires several Ubisoft studios working together, explaining that "once [a] team reaches over 200 people – even if they're in the same studio – you need complex management methods to make sure everything is held together; the feature development, the communication, and everything else." A year since its creation (thanks to hundreds of millions in tax breaks), Ubisoft Toronto is shaping up to be a beast -- whether local newspaper columnists like it or not.
Reader Comments (29)
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:34PM Themoreyouknow said
Yeah, and then the next thing you'll hear about is "Ubisoft Toronto laying off 700 employees"
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:36PM MystileArmor said
Yeah right, they had the hardest time ever to get Splinter Cell out the door.....
This whole statement is the equivalent of me saying I'm going to have sex with 10 supermodels at the same time.
This whole statement is the equivalent of me saying I'm going to have sex with 10 supermodels at the same time.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:50PM MystileArmor said
I am speaking for myself. That's why I said "of me saying"
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Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:49PM MystileArmor said
@MystileArmor
But a.. bbr. adj..sh...
Oh well... you got me there, unless a right hand counts as "sex"?
Reply
But a.. bbr. adj..sh...
Oh well... you got me there, unless a right hand counts as "sex"?
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:46PM armageddon said
I estimate about 160 people per team so they could produce 5 games at once.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:47PM Petebot330 said
Is one of them I Am Alive? What happened to that game? I want to play it!
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 12:57PM JasonA said
I hope that their games say "Ubisoft Toronto" when you start them up - that would be awesome (I live in Toronto)!
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:06PM armageddon said
@JasonA Let's hope not, Toronto is way over rated.
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Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:05PM gangcar said
After Scott Pilgrim comes out, hopefully this will be changed to
"Ubisoft Toronto aiming to develop five big Paul Robertson games at once."
"Ubisoft Toronto aiming to develop five big Paul Robertson games at once."
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:15PM Drumminjay108 said
I see nothing good coming from this.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:16PM nossy said
Yeah. Hopefully their future games doesn't have the same DRM crap that is keeping me from buying AssCreed2 and Conviction. Unfortunately this is going to be the norm for PC games. Ahhh...I would love to try AssCreed2, but oh wells.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:35PM oOWallaceOo said
The five games better be I Am Alive, Assassin's Creed III, Beyond Good and Evil 2, the next Splinter Cell and a sequel to Prince Of Persia 2008.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 3:56PM Hunter141072 said
@oOWallaceOo
Exactly my point, how many games of ubi you ca see and think THIS is something new??? prince of persia has been redone so many times that there is nothing new to that game, you can´t add anything new. same with splinter cell, to be honest i liked more the original idea of conviction that they showed in those old videos than the final product. the original idea was a real change for the game, but we ended with the same thing that splinter has always been, and assassins creed reminds me of halo, a game that is famous more for the publicity than the quality. AC is boring, it looks good and the story is good, but at the end there is nothing interesting. when i played it the first time, i thought this was going to be something like hitman, that i was going to be able to plan my execution, that i was going to hide and wait for the best moment to strike, nothing of that happened.... ubi is a big name with a huge cloud that covers the lack of quality that they have been showing lately, a shame.....
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Exactly my point, how many games of ubi you ca see and think THIS is something new??? prince of persia has been redone so many times that there is nothing new to that game, you can´t add anything new. same with splinter cell, to be honest i liked more the original idea of conviction that they showed in those old videos than the final product. the original idea was a real change for the game, but we ended with the same thing that splinter has always been, and assassins creed reminds me of halo, a game that is famous more for the publicity than the quality. AC is boring, it looks good and the story is good, but at the end there is nothing interesting. when i played it the first time, i thought this was going to be something like hitman, that i was going to be able to plan my execution, that i was going to hide and wait for the best moment to strike, nothing of that happened.... ubi is a big name with a huge cloud that covers the lack of quality that they have been showing lately, a shame.....
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:37PM Hunter141072 said
i hope those 800 guys are used to create REAL GOOD GAMES not just hyped crap like conviction and AC2. Both games are nothing but virtually the same thing that we have played since their first versions, i can´t believe they took so much time with conviction, and at the end we got the same old splinter cell game, with an nice interrogation mode that ended being nothing but a chose which cinema in real time you want to see. And the same goes for AC2 a great idea, but the game ends up being nothing but a run on stage, beat an easy guy, get info, steal a guy get info, kill the main target done. well, that´s not my idea of entertainment.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 3:48PM Hunter141072 said
@Osnaz
really? wasn´t really just more of the same?? honestly.
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really? wasn´t really just more of the same?? honestly.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:46PM Icephoenix231 said
Didn't they just can a project?
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 1:48PM 2late2die said
Somebody should remind Ubisoft that when it comes to software development quality wins over quantity any day of the week. Instead of doing 5 projects with 800 people (WTF, seriously??!) that result in games that require zero-day patches and have no soul, they should be making one game with a small team where every person is passionate about that game. I'd rather have one "world of goo" or "limbo", than 10 "modern warfares".
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 3:22PM matthugh said
Sweet, it worked for the need for speed series!
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 5:27PM (Unverified) said
I have a "massive staff" for Jade Raymond right here.
Posted: Aug 9th 2010 10:00PM Hunter141072 said
@(Unverified)
i think the right word is massive stiff......
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i think the right word is massive stiff......








