There’s been some debate in the industry recently whether the lack of new consoles has hurt the AAA gaming industry. According to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, it’s been detrimental to the industry in taking away the spark of new ideas and IP that usually accompanies a new product cycle launch.
“What we missed was a new console every five years,” Guillemot added. “We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market. 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. It’s a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we’re in the beginning of a new generation. Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds — and they are really going after what’s best.”
The CEO argued that certain investments early on lead to innovations later, like Rayman: Raving Rabbids helping to evolve Just Dance. “At the end of a 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. If you can’t take risks because people don’t buy, you don’t innovate. And if you don’t innovate, customers get bored,” concluded Guillemot.
Source: Gamasutra
