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Ubisoft cautious over new IP, remains focused on established franchises

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:20:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Ubisoft Europe managing director Alain Corre isn't one to parse words -- for instance, he told GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview, "The games that are not triple-A are not profitable anymore. And that's changed in the last 18 months." He admitted that "we are still releasing some new franchises," citing Ruse as a calculated aberration. "It's a niche so we know the size of the market for real-time strategy games ... with niche games it's possible to have a hit more than in the triple-A space, especially in the fourth and fifth year of the console cycle."

To Corre, it's a question of investment risk. "To a certain extent it becomes less risky to invest more in a single game or franchise than spreading your investment between three or four games," he explained. "If those three or four games are not at the right quality level, you are sure to lose money. So the business model has changed and we're changing our way of making hardcore games." He said we might not see a new IP push from Ubisoft until the next generation of consoles, which he foresees to be "less than five years" from now.

Oddly, he doesn't bring up Ubisoft Toronto -- a studio headed by Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond -- that's said to be working on both "AAA-game" and new IP. Nor did he address the fate of the scantly brought up I Am Alive, supposedly coming out next spring. Based on Corre's statements, we've at least managed to come to the conclusion that Beyond Good & Evil 2 (not a new IP) should be getting a release date during this console cycle. That's ... something?

Ubisoft cautious over new IP, remains focused on established franchises originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft may release franchise titles every 12-18 months

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:10:00 EST

Speaking to GI.biz, Ubisoft's European Managing Director Alain Corre made it clear that the company plans to begin releasing new iterations of its major franchise titles every 12 to 18 months. Corre noted that his company is working toward the strategy, but stressed that each title "needs to be different enough from the previous SKU to make sure you're not tiring the franchise or the consumers." Corre pointed to the Call of Duty series as the best example of consistent releases and consistent quality, saying, "They never compromise on quality, which is exactly what we're trying to do with our brands now."

His remarks strike a familiar chord, as Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot shared similar comments during a financial conference call earlier this month. Guillemot then stated the company's goal of releasing more games more often, though he was careful to say that it still plans to invest in creating better game engines and development tools in order to avoid the franchise fatigue that seems to pervade certain titles.

If any of that translates to more Beyond Good & Evil, we're all for it.

Ubisoft may release franchise titles every 12-18 months originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft's collaboration with Q Entertainment likely to be a music game

JC Fletcher — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:15:00 EST

So far, all we've known about "Codename Eden," the project Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Q Entertainment is working on with Ubisoft, is that Mizuguchi is involved, and that Ubisoft didn't think it was worth cutting into its E3 press conference's Cameron Time to bring Mizuguchi up to talk about it. As a result, all we got was a brief mention of the project and an awkward wave from Mizuguchi's seat in the audience.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft executive director Alain Corre offered substantial hints that the new project may be a music game. First, he described Q as "very advanced and specialised in how to exploit the music genre."

GI followed up by asking about Ubisoft's interest in entering the market and competing with Guitar Hero and the like. "We have been researching the music genre a lot," Corre said. "We know some iterations of music games are working very well in the music category. There are a lot of new things to invent in the future with voice or dance, so we're very much looking at what we can do in that respect."

This is no absolute guarantee that "Codename Eden" is some kind of music game, but the proximity of the two statements is interesting. And the prospect of a new music game from the creator of Space Channel 5 and Rez is wonderful.

Ubisoft's collaboration with Q Entertainment likely to be a music game originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft: E3 timing 'not appropriate'

Phil Larsen — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Ubisoft's Alain Corre said that the location and timing of this year's E3 was "not appropriate" for the event -- he wants it earlier (as in, back in May) and bigger. Basically, back the way it was, where Ubisoft could get a spot on the massive show floor and put on a glorious gaming spectacle. The overemphasis on glitz and glamour is pretty much why they ditched the old format in the first place.

Corre doesn't delve into specifics about what exactly the show should be, beyond being bigger and earlier. However, he does mention the lack of retail presence, which publishers would use to establish plans for the remainder of the year. According to Corre, having the event in July digs too deep into the year, and holiday plans can't be made as effectively. However, there still needs to be "reasonable limits as to noise, attendees or whatever."

What do you think? Has E3 settled into a nice groove this year, or do you wish the "funfair" atmosphere made a return in some form?

Ubisoft: E3 timing 'not appropriate' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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