Joystiq

Desilets' 1666 'suspended' by Ubisoft following firing

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:00 EST

The creative director on Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2, Patrice Desilets, was fired by Ubisoft last week and now 1666 is also on the outs. Desilets began working on 1666 at THQ, which Ubisoft acquired as part of the THQ asset auction earlier this year.

"After more than two months of discussions with [Patrice], we couldn't align our vision both on the project development and the team management," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot during the company's year-end financial call today. "So, consequently, our collaboration has ended, and we have suspended 1666 for an undisclosed period of time."

Desilets took a job at THQ and began work on 1666 after his Ubisoft non-compete expired in 2011.

[Image: Alexey L via Shutterstock]

Desilets' 1666 'suspended' by Ubisoft following firing originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beyond Good & Evil 2 put on the back burner to let Rayman boil over

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:30:00 EST

It's time for the yearly confirmation that, yes, Ubisoft is still working on Beyond Good & Evil 2. The sequel first surfaced in 2008, and since then Ubisoft has treated it like an obnoxious stepchild, providing vague updates on development, and usually only when a rumor forces a statement.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot tells Polygon that the team, headed by Michel Ancel, is still passionate about Beyond Good & Evil 2, but other games, such as Rayman Legends, have slowed its development.

"What's very important is that Michel Ancel is kind of doing too many things at the same time," Guillemot says. "He was working on Rayman Origins last year, and he's working a lot on Rayman Legends this year. So, you know, when he does that, he kind of puts too much of his time on the other projects that he has. So the fact is that working on Legends is slowing the process on Beyond Good & Evil 2."

Rayman Legends was recently delayed to Q1 2013 on the Wii U. Perhaps once Legends launches, Ancel and Ubisoft will get to work, for real, on Beyond Good and & Evil 2. And maybe they'll even tell someone about it.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 put on the back burner to let Rayman boil over originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft shows interest in THQ assets

Sinan Kubba — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot says his company is interested in THQ's assets. Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Guillemot said the North American company has good brands, and that his own company is "always interested in good brands." He declined to go any further, but confirmed it's something Ubisoft "can consider."

THQ's struggles have surged in the wake of last week's blunt Q2 earnings call, with the company's stock decimated by half the day following. THQ's stock at the time of writing is $1.19 per share, compared to $3.02 on November 5.

EA obtained UFC rights from THQ earlier this year in exchange for an "undisclosed cash payment." Given the desperate situation and Guillemot's forwardness, more assets may well move on in the near future.

Ubisoft shows interest in THQ assets originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft wants full games on Wii U eShop 'as soon as it's possible'

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:30:00 EST

Though no concrete plans have been outlined, Ubisoft's intention to join Nintendo's push towards more digitally available retail games on its new flagship console is now evident: "As soon as it's possible, we will do it," Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot told Polygon, speaking on whether his company had plans to sell full retail games as downloadable jams through Nintendo's eShop.

No further information regarding pricing and availability was given, so whether this expansion into the eShop happens at launch, or later down the road, remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that Ubisoft's games on the Wii U (regardless of purchase methodology) will eventually include UPlay integration, as its current-gen releases do. "Nintendo has been very open to us and allowed us to use our systems to communicate with our customers," Guillemot said. UPlay integration is expected sometime after launch.

Ubisoft wants full games on Wii U eShop 'as soon as it's possible' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Assassin's Creed 3 sells 3.5 million in first week

JC Fletcher — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:45:00 EST

Assassin's Creed 3 has sold an estimated 3.5 million units, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced in the company's earnings release. Guillemot said these sales - specifying sell-through, meaning sales to consumers, not just to retailers - represent "a year-on-year increase of more than 100%."

We're quite certain that is a comparison to Revelations' sales, and not to Assassin's Creed 3 a year ago. AC3 sales are up infinity percent over AC3 sales last year.

Assassin's Creed 3 sells 3.5 million in first week originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft CEO claims 93-95% piracy rate on their PC products

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:30:00 EST

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has stated the percentage of paying players for its PC retail products and its free-to-play content is approximately the same. Speaking to GamesIndustry at Gamescom, Guillemot noted that only about five to seven percent of freemium players buy into content, which he said is the same as its retail PC product because they have a "93-95 percent piracy rate."

Guillemot also said that free-to-play games are normally cheaper to produce and distribute, since they use existing assets and avoid boxed distribution costs, but the product still needs to fit the audience.

"We also take content which we've developed in the past, graphics etc, and we can make cheaper games and improve them over time," he said. "What's very important is that we change the content and make it a better fit to the customer as time goes on."

Ubisoft has become notorious for staggered releases between its console and PC launches, along with blatantly lying about the topic of PC delays - and let's not even discuss the draconian DRM headaches.

Ubisoft CEO claims 93-95% piracy rate on their PC products originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guillemot: Ubisoft 'doesn't have a huge investment' in Wii U

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:00:00 EST

At a recent investor call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that Ubisoft "doesn't have a huge investment" in the Wii U, the only next-gen console so far announced from any of the major competitors. Guillemot pointed out that most of the games Ubisoft is developing for the Wii U aren't new, but are ports of existing Xbox 360 or PS3 titles.

Building Wii U ports cost Ubisoft just over $1.2 million, Guillemot said. Rayman Legends and ZombiU, Ubisoft's "original" Wii U titles, "are much smaller of cost" than developing major titles for the current generation.

"Because, as we've always said when there is such an innovation, the need is not to have big production value but to concentrate on the innovation," Guillemot said. "This is what we are trying on Rayman and ZombiU."

Earlier today we mentioned Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot's thoughts on the current generation's lifespan, noting his opinion that a lack of new consoles stifles creativity. New consoles spur developers to create new IPs and "are important for the entire industry," Guillemot said.

Guillemot: Ubisoft 'doesn't have a huge investment' in Wii U originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft CEO ready for new consoles

JC Fletcher — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:05:00 EST

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot claims the relatively long lifespan of the current console generation has stifled creativity and made the industry risk-averse. "We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market," Guillemot told Gamasutra. "I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity."

New console launches make it easier for publishers to release new IP, Guillemot said. "Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds -- and they are really going after what's best." In contrast, toward the end of an established console generation, "... they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

Ubisoft's already got one new IP in mind for this year's Wii U: ZombiU, and one new game series based on established IP: Avengers: Battle for Earth. There are also lots of sequels, like Just Dance 4, Assassin's Creed 3 and Rayman Legends.

Ubisoft CEO ready for new consoles originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft expects next-gen consoles to integrate 'item based model'

JC Fletcher — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:30:00 EST

Ubisoft likely knows more about the next generation of consoles than we all do, thanks to working on games for them and stuff, and it sees them going in a social gaming-oriented direction. The company's earnings release features an outlook for the next year, in which Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot expects to see an increase of 25-61% in operating income.

Beyond that, Guillemot expects growth due to two trends: first, "the forthcoming arrival of the next generation of consoles which will be increasingly connected and will strongly boost the market thanks to a new qualitative leap and the integration of social games benefits and the item based model," and free-to-play games.

The "item based model" sounds like a trend bleeding over from free-to-play games, in which games are sold for free (or cheap) and microtransactions bring in revenue through the sale of in-game items. We have seen this outside of the free-to-play world in this generation, in the form of costume sales and the occasional weapon unlock; however, if Guillemot expects it to be a significant source of income on consoles, it's likely to be even more emphasized in the next generation.

Ubisoft expects next-gen consoles to integrate 'item based model' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 May 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's Wii U roundtable, now on video

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:10:00 EST

Remember the second developer roundtable that Nintendo held during E3 2011? The one that featured Killer Freaks From Outer Space? First and foremost, it's rude to refer to Nintendo head Satoru Iwata and Ubisoft head Yves Guillemot as killer freaks, not to mention accuse them of being from other outer space. Oh, right, yes, the game. That one.

Anyway, the full HD video of that roundtable discussion has been uploaded by Ubisoft, showing the entirety of what we saw, previewed, and broke out in its original presentation. Interested in watching foreign men struggling with the English language in front of dozens of journalists? Or in live gameplay of Ghost Recon Online and Killer Freaks? Here's your chance!

Continue reading Ubisoft's Wii U roundtable, now on video

Ubisoft's Wii U roundtable, now on video originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii U Assassin's Creed details loosed at Nintendo roundtable

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:16:00 EST

After just barely revealing that an Assassin's Creed title is in the works for Nintendo's Wii U, Ubisoft reps took to the Nintendo roundtable this evening and spoke to some of the features we'll see in the still untitled game (we're calling it "Assassin's Cwiihd"). Well, okay, first Ubisoft wanted to talk about the console itself. First and foremost, the Wii U has "powerful multi-core architecture" which allows Ubisoft to port its engines and assets directly over. And if you're anything like us, you're all about graphical shaders -- you'll be happy to know, then, that the Wii U is totally capable of handling that.

Beyond that, the game will, like previous AC titles, have the usual Eagle Vision sense ability. Specific to the Wii U, however, is an interactive map and database -- presumably for use with the WiiPad -- as well as some form of "alternative" puzzle solving. Ubi wouldn't confirm whether the title will be Assassin's Creed 3 or a Wii U version of Revelations or something else entirely, but you can bet we'll be hounding them for answers as the week progresses.

Wii U Assassin's Creed details loosed at Nintendo roundtable originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Five Wii U games in development at Ubisoft

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:27:00 EST

During Nintendo's second developer roundtable at E3 2011 this evening, Ubisoft CEO and founder Yves Guillemot spoke to his company's current Wii U development, announcing that five games are currently in development for next year's Wii successor.

Among the titles were three announced yesterday during Nintendo's keynote address, as well as one surprising addition: Killer Freaks From Outer Space. What's that, Yves? Spill it! He also reiterated the titles revealed on Tuesday in Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon Online, and a Raving Rabbids title. It's possible that we missed it during the roundtable, but it seems that one more title is still under wraps. We'll update this post as the presentations progresses, so keep it locked!

Update: Killer Freaks From Outer Space is being developed by Ubisoft Montpelier, and it's a "competitive first-person shooter." Apparently it'll be arriving sometime in 2012 alongside the Wii U. Our man on the ground JC Fletcher describes the teaser trailer as taking place in a destroyed London with only one type of "freak" shown. Players will aim WiiPad a la Face Raiders at the various freaks before shooting their faces off.

Five Wii U games in development at Ubisoft originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier scheduled for Q1 2012

James Ransom-Wiley — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:00:00 EST

During an investors call today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is now scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2012 (the company's 2011-12 fiscal Q4). This places it at the tail end of the fiscal year, which was the previously given (and rather large) release window. "We want first to assure the best quality possible," Guillemot explained in a moment of déjà vu, "as well as to avoid the very crowded Christmas landscape in the shooter genre." It was as if he was still reading last year's script.

On May 18, 2010, Guillemot had offered those exact same reasons about Future Soldier's readiness then, saying, "Due to a very competitive environment, we decided to move the game out of the Christmas [2010] quarter, and into the March [2011] quarter." He added, "It will also provide additional time to our development teams to realize their vision."

At this rate, Ubisoft is going to have to change the title to "Ghost Recon: Soldier." Wait a minute -- we already used that one ... These delays are getting old.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier scheduled for Q1 2012 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 May 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rayman Origins to be 'a big event,' Ubisoft CEO says

Ludwig Kietzmann — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST

Pictured above: Rayman, floppy-haired hero and decliner of limbs, along with dim-witted partner in mischief, Globox.

They've been missing since December 2010, but we're happy to report that they're not dead. In an MCV interview published today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said Rayman Origins was "very much" a Michel Ancel project. So, a bizarre information blackout following a promising announcement was to be expected.

"There will be a new Rayman game, Rayman Origins, by Michel Ancel," Guillemot said. "It will be HD in 2D and it will be a big event for the whole industry." It's unclear whether the game will still be episodic, as originally planned, or if it will still be a downloadable title. Ubisoft has not answered any of our specific questions regarding Rayman Origins during the last three months.

Aside from being a return to Rayman's roots, the game serves as a showcase for the UbiArt development framework, which allows the incorporation of detailed drawings from a variety of sources into a skeletal animation system. In other words: game so, so pretty.

Rayman Origins to be 'a big event,' Ubisoft CEO says originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft on next-gen portable dev: 3DS / PSP2 first, 'the other machines' next

Christopher Grant — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:20:00 EST

After some success getting in on the ground floor with Kinect - Ubisoft was gunning to be the "top third-party publisher" - it's looking to repeat that formula with the upcoming 3DS, dropping six games for the portable's European launch. But with increasingly competent smartphones eating away at the dedicated handheld gaming market, what's Ubisoft's long-term plan for supporting the new portable landscape?

While the PSP had, at one point, been a solid platform for Ubisoft - Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines has sold roughly 500,000 units, a Ubi exec noted on this afternoon's earnings call - "today it's a bit more difficult as you have the PSP at the end of its cycle," CEO Yves Guillemot said. With a stated goal to invest in "future consoles, notably the 3DS and the NGP," Ubisoft is hoping to extend the lifespan of its portable productions by focusing on two phases of release.

"We are working to make sure that the games we create for the portable machines can be adapted for those platforms so that after making good revenue on 3DS or PSP2," Guillemot said, "we can go to a second phase which is going at a lower-price to the other machines." The other machines he's referring to here are the gaming smartphone platforms, typified by the iPhone and its hyper-competitive (and budget-priced!) App Store offerings.

Publishers are eager to capitalize on new hardware, and the excitement that inevitably follows, but want to continue to invest in the potentially lucrative phone ecosystems. This two-phase solution might allow them to have it both ways.

Ubisoft on next-gen portable dev: 3DS / PSP2 first, 'the other machines' next originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Assassin's Creed 2 ships close to 9 million, Conviction sales reach 1.8 million

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:50:00 EST

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was fairly pleased to report during today's investor's briefing that two of the company's biggest games of the past year have been flying both onto and off of store shelves at breakneck speeds. According to Guillemot, Assassin's Creed 2 has shipped nearly 9 million units during the fiscal year, while Splinter Cell: Conviction, which only just launched April 13, has hit 1.8 million in sales.

Guillemot is banking on the continued sales of the latter title to increase Q1 revenues 75 percent year-over-year. We doubt the company will have any problem with that. Games which task the player with discreetly dispatching enemies are apparently in no danger of going out of style.

Assassin's Creed 2 ships close to 9 million, Conviction sales reach 1.8 million originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 May 2010 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier delayed into 'March quarter' 2011

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:20:00 EST

This is how it all starts, folks. In today's Ubisoft investor's briefing, CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has been pushed from its initial Holiday 2010 launch window. "Due to a very competitive environment, we decided to move the game out of the Christmas quarter, and into the March quarter," Guillemot explained. "It will also provide additional time to our development teams to realize their vision," he added.

We don't know about you guys, but we're flashing back to last year, when every release in November and December was pushed back a few months for those very reasons. If you're hoping to check out Future Soldier in the foreseeable future, you better make your way to E3 2010, where the game will be showcased to the public for the very first time.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier delayed into 'March quarter' 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 May 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft reports $76.2 million operating loss in fiscal year 2009-10

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:00 EST

Ubisoft today released its financial earnings report to investors for fiscal year 2009-10 (ending March 31), reporting sales of €871 million ($1.1 billion) with an operating loss of €60 million ($76.2 million). CEO Yves Guillemot softened investor reaction by saying: "The global economic crisis had a pronounced impact on the video game industry in 2009, which contracted by nearly 10 percent year-on-year. Ubisoft's sales were hit particularly hard, falling 18 percent over the full year despite a stabilization in the second half of the year."

Ubi's Q4 sales were up 1.9 percent year-over-year to €210 million ($266.7 million), outpacing internal guidance by €10 million ($12.7 million). The company says the inflated numbers are due partially to "a strong increase in sales of Just Dance," the "ongoing exceptional performance delivered by Assassin's Creed 2 which sold-in nearly 9 million units during the year," and higher-than-expected sales of both Red Steel 2 and Avatar.

And Guillemot predicts a sunnier 2010-11. "We forecast a return to profitable growth in 2010-11 with positive cash flow generation, driven by a games line-up that is more closely tailored to growth segments based on strong franchises." He also notes his excitement for new technology driving increased sales, saying, "Lastly, the upcoming launches of new consoles, including Natal and Sony Move, should enable us to capitalize on the technology investments that we have undertaken in recent years and re-energize the casual games segment."

Source -- Ubisoft FY2009-10 Sales & Earnings Report (warning: PDF link)

Ubisoft reports $76.2 million operating loss in fiscal year 2009-10 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's Guillemot not trippin' about franchise fatigue

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:35:00 EST

Ubisoft's current focus to iterate its "major franchises" seems to expose its key brands to franchise fatigue and, with it, dwindling sales -- just look what happened to sales of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk when Activision implemented a similar strategy. However, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot remains unconcerned about so-called franchise fatigue, as he emphasized today that the publisher's goal is to "increase and come out more often" with games.

Speaking during a financial earnings call for investors, Guillemot expressed his belief that Ubisoft has taken plenty of time to develop the next installments in the Driver, Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell franchises -- development time that will ultimately result in more iterations in less time, in turn improving brand visibility and training consumers to expect these franchises more often, and plan their gaming budgets accordingly. He also pointed out that sales of these upcoming titles should boost sales of their franchises' legacy games.

Of course, with that said, Guillemot re-emphasized that quality is still important and that the company has invested (and continues to invest) in building game engines and tools that can be used for the next 10 years. The CEO noted that Ubisoft development teams our given enough time to ensure very high quality work, adding that Ubisoft "takes those elements into consideration."

Ubisoft's Guillemot not trippin' about franchise fatigue originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghost Recon also headed to Wii, PSP, and DS; Wii version developed by a different team

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST

Among the handful of Ubiscoops about 2010's releases coming out of today's investor call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot brought up the tactical Tom Clancy franchise Ghost Recon. Beyond the already revealed platforms for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Guillemot detailed the franchise's further ubiquity, saying the next Ghost Recon game will "be on all platforms: 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, [and] DS." He noted that the Wii version of Ghost Recon will "be done by a different team" with a "different approach ... created for that Wii population." Presumably, the game will involve standing on the balance board to approximate a sniper's breathing -- and it'll also be made up entirely of mini-games. Whoa, whoa -- calm down there killer. We're just joshin' ya!

He also confirmed something we've been mentioning for months now: "There will be more competition in the first eight months than in the last four." Get your calculators and spreadsheets out, folks -- early 2010 is gonna be a bruiser like we've never seen before (on our bank accounts, that is).

Ghost Recon also headed to Wii, PSP, and DS; Wii version developed by a different team originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Assassin's Creed 2 ships 8 million, next game returns to Rome

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:10:00 EST

Speaking in an investor call, following the release of Ubisoft's fiscal third-quarter financial results, company CEO Yves Guillemot made it abundantly clear as to why another Assassin's Creed will unsheathe its stabby things before April 2011. According to Guillemot, Assassin's Creed 2, which launched in November 2009 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, has shipped 8 million copies. The original Assassin's Creed had sold just as many by June 2009 -- roughly 18 months after its debut.

Although details regarding the new Assassin's Creed -- set to star Ezio and some online friends -- remain slim, Guillemot wasn't mum on milieu: "This time, [Ezio] will strike directly against the templar's order in Rome." Can this Rome be built in a year, just in time for Holiday 2010?

Assassin's Creed 2 ships 8 million, next game returns to Rome originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft reports fiscal Q3 sales of $679 million, hints at unannounced titles

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST

Sure, $679 million may sound like a lot of money (it sure does to us!), but when you're a company CEO reporting that number to investors and it's 2.7 percent lower than last year's equivalent time period ($697 million), it's not quite as impressive. And that's just what Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had to do earlier today when the company reported its fiscal Q3 (October 1 through December 31) sales for 2009. Given the publisher's French HQ, we're not privy to the period's revenue until later this year.

In discussing plans for the upcoming year, the company cited "at least seven franchise titles" being launched this year, calling out this morning's (finally) officially-announced Ghost Recon: Future Soldier among others, leaving one (presumably unannounced) title unmentioned. The publisher then indicates "at least two new brands (R.U.S.E. has already been announced)" will see the light of day in 2010 -- leaving one unannounced new brand. Getting murkier yet, it appears "at least 5 online games" will be heading to the information superhighway, though only three are mentioned (yep, you guessed it -- that means two have yet to be revealed). With GDC, PAX East, and E3 not too far off (already?!), there's still plenty of 2010 left for announcements.

Ubisoft reports fiscal Q3 sales of $679 million, hints at unannounced titles originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft to 'refocus' on Xbox 360, PS3 and 'major franchises'

James Ransom-Wiley — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:09:00 EST

As Ubisoft today sent its financial forecast soaring downward for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, CEO Yves Guillemot pledged to steer the company away from the suffering casual market. Specifically, "with a view to further reducing our exposure to the DS, we intend to continue to refocus our development resources on our major franchises and on the Xbox 360 and PS3, the two consoles which are expected to see sales growth in games for gamers in 2010," Guillemot said.

For the fiscal 2009-10 year, Ubisoft has revised its sales target to €860 million (roughly $1.25 billion) -- down from an estimated €1,040 million -- resulting in an anticiapted €50 million operating loss. The publisher cited a near 50 percent year-over-year drop in casual game sales as the leading cause for the revised financial target, despite "robust" sales of casual Wii games (especially sales of Just Dance). Poor retail performances by James Cameron's Avatar: The Game and unspecified "non-casual" Wii titles, along with weak back catalog sales, were also to blame. The last-minute delays of Splinter Cell: Conviction and R.U.S.E. affect the current fiscal year, as well.

As for fiscal 2010-11, Ubisoft has indeed planned a lineup of "major" franchises, including the aforementioned Splinter Cell game, along with new entries in the Ghost Recon and Prince of Persia series, in addition to a newly announced Assassin's Creed "episode," and Rabbids and Driver installments. "The 2010-11 line-up -- which is stronger in franchises for Xbox 360 and PS3 -- reflects our refocusing efforts and should enable us to both win market share and enhance our profitability," Guillemot concluded.

Ubisoft to 'refocus' on Xbox 360, PS3 and 'major franchises' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft first-half profits plummet into loss

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:01:00 EST

Among the comprehensive list of numbers in Ubisoft's first half fiscal 2009-10 report, measuring performance in April through September 2009, one figure stands out: the French company's reported €52,027,000 in not-profit. That's right, Ubisoft's profits are down by more than €70 million (over $100 million) from the same period last year to rest firmly in the red.

From a profitable first half of fiscal 2008-09 of roughly €24 million to just over €52 million in losses in the first half of fiscal 2009-10, Ubisoft's profits have experienced a year-over-year change of -316.53 percent. However, CEO Yves Guillemot remains steadfast that projected sales figures for Assassin's Creed 2 and Avatar will ease Ubisoft's financial woes. This is, after all, the most important Q4 in the company's history.

Ubisoft first-half profits plummet into loss originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft planning 10 games for Natal, '4 to 5' for PlayStation Motion Controller

Christopher Grant — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:25:00 EST

During the question and answer portion of an investor conference call this afternoon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot clarified his company's commitment to developing games for both the Xbox 360's still-codenamed Project Natal and the PlayStation 3's hopefully-still-codenamed PlayStation Motion Controller. "We have about ten games that will come for Natal during the first six months of the launch of Natal, and we expect between four to five games for the new controller from Sony," Guillemot explained. "That's the picture at the moment, it can change in the next twelve months." (That "twelve months" reference doesn't bode well for Sony's purported "Spring 2010" third-party launch lineup for the motion controller.)

When asked if those games were all new properties, or motion-enhanced updates of existing franchises (like Prince of Persia), Guillemot responded, "I didn't count the games that in fact are supporting the new functions that those accessories will bring. I was more speaking about casual games that we are doing on those two machines; we can consider that on those games it's 70 percent new property." Or - if you consider Guillemot's suggestion of ten games for Natal and "four to five" for PlayStation Motion Controller - that's roughly ten new casual properties coming from Ubisoft.

Ubisoft planning 10 games for Natal, '4 to 5' for PlayStation Motion Controller originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft aims to 'quickly' soar to a 10% market share

Xav de Matos — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:00:00 EST

During the BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told attendees his company aims to capture a 10 percent market share in the flooded games industry. According to Guillemot (via GamesIndustry.biz), Ubisoft currently stands at "around 6 percent," but the executive believes his company can expand its reach using a multi-tiered strategy to raise its share very "quickly."

At its core, Ubisoft's plan was detailed as a three-pronged approach: A focus on present and future consoles, online and social networks and entertainment convergence. In June 2009, Ubisoft revealed the cross-game interface social media and digital platform, Uplay -- a web-based service it hopes will allow developers to better connect with players. Apart from this "confluence" concept, Ubisoft has continued its convergence strategy by expanding its marketing reach to gamers through various forms of media and through the use of its movie license agreements.

"We have many opportunities to gain market share," Gillemot said during the event, echoing statements made during its Q2 earnings call last week regarding the importance of leveraging upcoming technology from Microsoft and Sony. And let's face it, if pre-order data is to be believed, Ubisoft will soon be diving into giant wells of loot following the release of Assassin's Creed 2... and that has to help the company inch closer to its 10 percent goal.

Ubisoft aims to 'quickly' soar to a 10% market share originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft talks dancing, fitness and party games on Natal, PS3 Motion Controller

Christopher Grant — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:00 EST

On the conference call covering Ubisoft's Q2 earnings, management had a chance to discuss its strategies for the company, including support for both Microsoft and Sony's motion control accessories. "We will also be ready with some very nice innovations when Natal and Motion Controller are launched on the Xbox 360 and PS3 next year," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, reminding us that a 2010 release for Project Natal is all but confirmed at this point. He later explained that Ubisoft will "also have some games that will come on the new machines that are going to come in the future" and "are working to be ready for the new accessories or new machines that will come soon." Whether Guillemot is talking about the aforementioned motion control accessories or new consoles altogether (or both!) wasn't clear.

Continue reading Ubisoft talks dancing, fitness and party games on Natal, PS3 Motion Controller

Ubisoft talks dancing, fitness and party games on Natal, PS3 Motion Controller originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's Guillemot expects some Spring 2010 games to be delayed again

JC Fletcher — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:00:00 EST

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot finally noticed the trend he helped start: too many games being pushed into an increasingly crowded Q1 of 2010. "We now have a situation where there are a lot of good games due for release in the first half of next year," Guillemot told MCV, "but I think some publishers will move again."

Guillemot said that because "the first quarter of 2010 is looking pretty crazy," the "other players" will further delay their already-delayed games. What he didn't say was whether Ubisoft would be delaying its games. To us, this sounds like a preliminary statement to soften the eventual impact of another delay of Ubisoft games.

Ubisoft's Guillemot expects some Spring 2010 games to be delayed again originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA, Ubisoft pleased as punch post-PS3 price plummet

Justin McElroy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:33:00 EST

As happy as you might have been to read about the PS3's price being slashed to $299 in the US, trust us: Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot and EA Games president Frank Gibeau were much, much happier. Not only will, theoretically, more systems fly off shelves but buyers will have a little extra cash in their pockets for the companies' games.

"It's exceptional news, actually. I think the machine is a great machine, with the Blu-ray," said Guillemot, who was having kind of a rough day with English it would appear. Gibeau shared his enthusiasm, telling GamesIndustry.biz, "It's an old line, but it still rings true for us: 'We make the ammunition for the hardware wars.' So the lowest priced hardware possible is a good thing for us."

Also, we never noticed how much Gibeau looks like Radar O'Reilly.

EA, Ubisoft pleased as punch post-PS3 price plummet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft devising new tools to combat piracy on PC

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EST

According to statements made by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot in a recent investor call (via Shacknews), the publisher is looking to implement new anti-piracy tools within its PC releases. Though the platform isn't the only one beset by shady software shenanigans -- Guillemot highlighted the existence of piracy on every console, including DS, PS3 and Xbox 360 -- it is drawing the most internal ire.

"All together, on home consoles, the piracy is low," he said. "But on the PC, the piracy increases quite a lot, and we are working on tools that will allow us to actually decrease tremendously the piracy on PC, starting next year in fact and probably one game at the end of this year." Will they also mark a tremendous decrease in consumer friendliness? We'll have to wait for that one game at the end of this year, and with Splinter Cell: Conviction out of the picture, Ubisoft's new measures will most likely debut in November with Assassin's Creed 2.

Remember what that game's creative director, Patrice Désilets, told us about the 35 million people who played Assassin's Creed 1? "Not all the people bought it. They played it on PC."

Ubisoft devising new tools to combat piracy on PC originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft and THQ CEOs on the declining (stable?) DS market, and piracy

Christopher Grant — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:31:00 EST

The CEOs of two of the largest video game publishers appeared to share completely contradictory views on one issue: the declining (or stable?) DS software sales market. Arguing one side was Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, who blamed his company's poor Q1 showing in part on a declining DS software market. On the other side is Brian Farrel, CEO of THQ, who seemingly responded directly to Guillemot's accusation saying that "it's not a bad market."

Guillemot claimed that piracy in Europe, particularly Spain, was in part to blame for the drop in DS sales. Farrell said, "I know there's been a lot of talk in Europe about piracy. We've been pleased with our DS, in particular, catalog sales. It's not a bad market." Both CEOs looked to the latest DS revision - the DSi - to ameliorate some of the piracy concerns. "For DSi, the piracy is a lot less than on the normal DS," Guillemot said. Farrell said, in keeping with his promising view of the DS market, "We think there's some growth coming with the DSi."

While the PSP has certainly had its fair share of piracy over the years, Guillemot praised Sony's evolution of the machine. "The PSP has always been a machine with lots of piracy, so it's a machine we were not developing too much on because it was pirated. Now there are new ways to control the piracy so we have reinvested on the machine." That reinvestment has obviously come in the form of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. "It'll be interesting to see how the PSP business continues with Sony's new entry," Farrell said, referring to the PSP go. "But we're not seeing any major trends in the handheld business between the DS, PSP, and even the iPhone that are affecting our overall outlook at this time."

Ubisoft, for its part, is looking for other, unique ways to curb piracy on platforms like the DS. "We are working to put new figurines and new elements in the box that will change [the impact of piracy] in the future but in the short term it's effecting us," Guillemot said. It'll effect you a lot less if you bundle some of those adorable Rabbid figurines with every game you ship. Just sayin'.

[image credit]

Ubisoft and THQ CEOs on the declining (stable?) DS market, and piracy originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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THQ and Ubisoft CEOs on console price cuts

Christopher Grant — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:30:00 EST

With back to back conference calls this week by Ubisoft on Monday and THQ on Tuesday, we were treated to CEO-level insight into on some of the issues facing the gaming industry. Both Yves Guillemot from Ubisoft and Brian Farrell from THQ addressed the looming console price drops and we dutifully scribbled down every word.

Both agreed it wasn't their place to confirm any price drops. "We can't comment because it would depend very much on how those guys sell their machines and how ... they can decrease the price of those machines," said Guillemot. "Obviously we'll let the hardware guys announce the magnitude and timing [of a price cut]," said Farrell.

But just because they're not going to confirm a price drop doesn't mean they're not going to share their company's opinions on whether one is coming or not. "We think the battle between the three manufacturers will really be very fierce this year. All of them will really push hard to get this Christmas sale," Guillemot said in rough English. "They will act, we think."

Farrell was a little more specific: "The fact that Nintendo Wii is still at its launch price and PlayStation 3 is still at a relatively high price point by historical standards ... just look at the hardware numbers and it would seem that a price cut would be in order by at least two of the three manufacturers."

While Guillemot ended the price cuts discussion with hopeful remarks about the effect console price drops would have on his software business - "if the machines are going down in price, we can see a big increase of sales on all the machines" - Farrell was a little more direct stating, "Price cuts, again - they are factored into our guidance, our internal model. We do anticipate price cuts coming this Fall ... something on the higher end of the range certainly wouldn't surprise us."

Well, with all this chatter, it wouldn't surprise us either, Brian. Drop your best estimates in the comments.

THQ and Ubisoft CEOs on console price cuts originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubi's 2010 lineup includes ... something about Assassin's Creed

Christopher Grant — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

During yesterday's Ubisoft conference call, when asked about next year's lineup - short of the delayed Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Steel 2, and potential 2010 titles I Am Alive and Ghost Recon 4 - CEO Yves Guillemot was understandably vague. While we were, of course, on mute, Guillemot knows all too well that somewhere, on the other end of his telephone line, was the sound of hundreds of games writers breathing heavily and typing furiously. So he started simply. "We have a very good lineup for next year. We can't give you too much information on that now."

Okay, Yves. It's a good lineup and you can't talk too much about it. You'll have to give us something more than that! "We have lots of products that are coming from the brands we own, so you will see lots of followups to the brands that are already established," he continued. "And we think that you will be able to see also some elements concerning the Assassin's Creed license."

Wait, what now? Some "elements" and those elements are "concerning" the Assassin's Creed "license"? Wow, how's that for vague? With Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed 2 hitting the PSP and Xbox 360/PS3, respectively, this fall we're not sure what sort of property he could be alluding to but we thought we'd share regardless. Why? Because, when they finally announce Ubi Racers at E3 2010 - the only kart racer with all your favorite Ubisoft charactes like Sam Fisher, Uncle Pey'J, and Assassin's Creed's Altair - you'll recall this post and remark at how all that mystery and all that obfuscation has suddenly come into clarity.

[image source]

Ubi's 2010 lineup includes ... something about Assassin's Creed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft looks to the Wii, Project Natal for casual gaming future

Christopher Grant — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST

While Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot singled out a nosedive in the DS market as a significant contributor to his company's poor Q1 performance, he didn't condemn the growing casual gaming space or his company's increasing reliance on it. Where the DS software market is falling - Guillemot pointed to Ubi's consistent market share in Europe, despite a drop in revenue - other casual opportunities are growing. "The DS is declining quickly, but the Wii is taking off quite fast," Guillemot said. "That's why the average margin remains around 20%." So, while DS software sales dipped, Wii software was there to make up the difference. So why did a drop in DS software sales hurt so bad in the last quarter? Guillemot says Ubi's summer Q2 "is a period where people are going for holidays and they buy lots of [DS] games and because this market is going down it has a big impact on the second quarter."

With DS software sales flagging, Ubi's not without a plan to safeguard its lucrative casual franchises. Executive director of Ubisoft, Alain Corre, broke down the Wii's growth, saying, "This year we expect the Wii to represent over 40% of our sales on casual versus last year it was at 18%. So it's a big change for the Wii, and [the Wii] is contributing much more to our casual sales than the DS last year."

So Ubisoft is looking to the Wii, and beyond, for the bulk of its casual gaming sales. "The casual business is changing rapidly and it will still be a very interesting business but we have to reinvent it this year," Guillemot expained. "We already have a big shift from DS to Wii this year, and we'll continue with the Wii and the Xbox 360 with the new 3D camera next year." Of course, we've been focused on how Project Natal will work with "our" games; however, here's the CEO of a major publisher talking about the Xbox 360 (not the PS3's motion camera though?) as another prong in its successful casual strategy.

Ubisoft looks to the Wii, Project Natal for casual gaming future originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's Guillemot explains Splinter Cell, Red Steel delays

Christopher Grant — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:45:00 EST

Maybe this afternoon's news that Splinter Cell: Conviction - aka Badass: The Game - and Red Steel 2 were being delayed from later this year to the beginning of next year took you by surprise. Not us, Reader. We've become so desensitized to the pain of losing highly anticipated titles like Conviction to the vagaries of a tumultuous market that we can no longer tell delays from cancellations. We've got it bad.

So, we tuned into Ubisoft's conference call this afternoon in the hopes of gleaning some new information from CEO Yves Guillemot. To our pleasure, Mr. Guillemot provided some details explaining why one of his company's already very delayed major releases would be delayed further. "Red Steel and Splinter Cell are going to greatly benefit from the additional polishing time we are providing and will clearly be among the leading brands on the Wii and 360 for the March quarter," Guillemot said. If you'll recall, Splinter Cell: Conviction had already missed its original 2007 release date.

When asked why these two games were being delayed, Guillemot explained, "The changes on Splinter Cell and Red Steel - it's just a question of polish. The team was asking that they couldn't be with the level of quality on all the maps and all the game for the end of the year, so they had asked for more time to be able to come with a better product, for both of those games. The quality of the games is there for what you've been able to see at E3, but we were not able to have that same quality on the full game of those two products."

Of course, in a conference call full of analysts and investors, the tiny matter of lost sales came up. Guillemot admitted that, for "those two products, it's around a million units" of lost sales in the first month. However, when faced with releasing subpar titles or losing a stronger opening month, Guillemot came down strongly in favor of the latter. "We really think with the level of quality that we'll be able to obtain with the time we give them we will have a long shelf life for those products," he explained. "Now, because [Conviction and Red Steel 2] are launching during that quarter, they will not do as many units for the first month as they would have done in November/December, but we think that on the long-term they can achieve more units than what they would've done."

And it sounds like Ubisoft's patient partner for the still Xbox 360-exclusive Conviction - that would be Microsoft - doesn't mind waiting another couple months. Guillemot says, "We still have the full support of Microsoft because they know that if we can bring a very high-quality game this will help their machine. So we still have the full support from them." And if they deliver a quality game, they'll have the support of gamers as well. Your move, Ubi.

Ubisoft's Guillemot explains Splinter Cell, Red Steel delays originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's net profit declined 37 percent in past fiscal year

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:30:00 EST

It's time for another installment of "Sales Go Up, Profit Goes Down," the completely perplexing economic phenomenon that's been taking the gaming industry by storm as of late. Today's contestant is Ubisoft, who in April reported a 14 percent annual sales increase over the past fiscal year, from €928.3 million to €1.06 billion, yet recently revealed it had experienced a 37 percent (or €31 million) decrease in net profit during FY 2008.

This might sound bad, but Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during a recent investor conference call he was pleased his company could, "offer superior quality games, while maintaining a high level of profitability." Oh, let's not forget the company's projected €1.1 billion sales target for the next fiscal year. With the amount of stuff the developer is working on, figures that huge wouldn't surprise us.

Ubisoft's net profit declined 37 percent in past fiscal year originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 May 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft boss thinks Apple will make new gaming hardware

Justin McElroy — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:45:00 EST

The signs are so clear that Apple wants a bigger slice of the gaming pie, you probably don't need us offering our own cockamamie theories (iPhun!). But maybe Yves Guillemot will be enough to convince you. During an earnings call yesterday, the Ubisoft boss said "There's also a new entrant in the business. [That entrant is] Apple, with the iPhone. And we don't think they will stop there."

Reading the rest of the context on Kotaku, it certainly sounds like Guillemot is thinking that Apple's working on new hardware. So, we've gotta ask: Do you have room in your heart for another box?

Ubisoft boss thinks Apple will make new gaming hardware originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 May 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft preparing for next console generation

JC Fletcher — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:30:00 EST

During yesterday's financial results conference call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot mentioned that his company had already begun preparing for the next set of consoles. Does this mean that Ubisoft has been shown the plans of the hardware developers? Probably not! It's preparing with money.

"We need to get ready for the future generation of consoles," Guillemot told investors. "In the next few years, there will be new home and handheld consoles, and if you don't invest... you will not be able to cope with both [the existing and new generation consoles]."

We can only imagine how difficult it must be for Ubisoft to predict how the next generation will look. Right now, judging by the current generation, the company doesn't know what kind of media games will be stored on, whether there will be any media, or even how many screens its handheld games will occupy. It doesn't know how many years into the PS3's "ten-year plan" Sony will introduce the PS4, and there's basically no predicting what Nintendo's next device will look like, nor whether it will be more appropriate to put Tom Clancy sequels or Petz sequels on it.

Ubisoft preparing for next console generation originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beyond Good & Evil 2 to be bigger, better ... more badass?

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:18:00 EST

Developer Michel Ancel allegedly told All-Gamers.fr that Beyond Good & Evil 2 would "be bigger, more immersive and include more investigations," directly challenging ~~Cliffy B~~ Young Clifford for the "Greatest Self-Promoter" award. In a video interview conducted last week, Ancel (again, allegedly -- all this stuff's in French!) talked about the current development process for BG&E2 (still in pre-production), the return of the first game's characters ("lots" will be returning), and the problems his development team had with the first game (PS2 "didn't live up to their expectations").

Confirming what we've heard before about the sequel, Ancel also apparently notes that the gameplay will be different this time around, as the team's looking for ways to distinguish it from the original. Though he didn't go into more detail (at least, as far as we know) regarding controls, we can't help but worry after what Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said last year. Interestingly, during the interview, the developer remained cagey regarding the possibility of a Wii version, though he apparently didn't deny the possibility of a port in the future.

French-speaking Joystiq readers should feel free to confirm or deny Mr. Ancel's interview statements in the comment section below.

Gallery: Beyond Good & Evil 2

[Via Gamezine.co.uk. Thanks, Mr. V!]

Beyond Good & Evil 2 to be bigger, better ... more badass? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Publishers push Sony for PS3 price cut

Justin McElroy — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:50:00 EST

In one of the least surprising stories you're likely to read today, publishers seem to agree that their lives would be a lot better if Sony could knock a couple hundred bones off the price of the PS3. That's the word from Bloomberg today, who nabbed quotes from the likes of EA Sports' Peter Moore, who admitted, "Sony obviously still has a ways to go with their pricing," and Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot, who added, "Anytime a console manufacturer reduces the price, software publishers benefit."

We'd love to make a snide comment here about EA and Ubisoft having nothing to lose from a PS3 price cut, but SCEA marketing boss Peter Dille beat us to it, commenting, "Everybody in the development community would love for the PS3 to be free, so they could just sell razor blades."

We can empathize with both sides, but it does seem to us that Sony needs to do something big to get back in the game. What do you think?

[Via CVG]

Publishers push Sony for PS3 price cut originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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