The film-based Avatar: The Game has opened up a Pandora’s box of ills about licensed fare for Ubisoft management. As reported in Gamasutra, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said on a company earnings call that disappointing performance for the game means less investment in licenses going forward. Guillemot cited adverse effects on both product quality and marketing from the difficulty in tying game development to rigid film production timelines. He said that while Ubisoft won’t completely forego licensed fare, it will spend less on licenses in the future. Guillemot added that Avatar: The Game represented an exceptional challenge given the tied-in film s late December premiere. He said the game was materially harmed by the small window it had for holiday sales. Ubisoft had expected sales for the game to continue into the first quarter of this year but has seen it follow the traditional post-holiday drop-off. Gamasutra points out that Avatar: The Game has also not fared well with game critics. In a separate report, the outlet pulled Guillemot’s comments from the same conference call saying that Ubisoft is also planning on creating less new IP and focusing more on major franchises going forward. Read more at Gamasutra.

‘Avatar’ Dampens Ubisoft’s Appetite For Licenses
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