You know the games—Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, Far Cry, Just Dance . . . but behind the popular titles and eSports competitions is a publisher with something to prove. In short, the company wants fans to know that it’s here to stay as a publisher, as a creator and as a service provider.
What’s Next In Tech
One of the world’s largest and most popular video game publishers today, Ubisoft has made tremendous strides from five brothers in a small French village to over 10,000 employees worldwide. With time comes technological and social advances—both of which the company has readily adopted. Ubisoft was one of the early supporters of the dual screen Wii U experience and it has announced three games for the new Nintendo Switch (Just Dance, Rayman Legends and Steep). The company has taken full advantage of motion sensing technologies like the Kinect and PlayStation Move with games like the popular Just Dance series and Child of Eden. Now the video game publisher is looking to help pioneer the VR era, which has gained over $1 billion in investment last year. Unfortunately for some fans, Ubisoft will no longer develop games for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in favor of next-gen consoles.
Even the publisher’s subject matter adopts the latest in current and future technology, such as hacking in Watch Dogs or advanced weaponry in The Division. This past January, the publisher announced a partnership with SpectreVision to create original interactive virtual reality programming, in addition to Ubisoft’s already growing list of VR products like Eagle Flight, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Werewolves Within and the Assassin’s Creed Experience.
Story Expansions
Video game movies have a bad reputation, but the Assassin’s Creed film starring Michael Fassbender has thus far been a moderate success, having opened at number one in the UK. Meanwhile, The Division film adaptation is already in the works, with Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star. While they can’t all be as financially successful as say, Resident Evil, Ubisoft is branching out into Hollywood to tell its stories in new ways . . . and hopefully, change the reputation of video game movies in the future.
Tie-ins for the small screen have also been an effective way to expand franchise lore—partnering with YouTube creators for The Division: Agent Origins, rapper-turned-actor, Tip “T.I.” Harris joined for a short film leading up to the events of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Meanwhile, Die Hard director, John McTiernan has signed on for a live-action commercial.
Stand By Your Game
Ubisoft doesn’t walk away once a game is released, Ubisoft’s vice president of live operations, Anne Blondel-Jouin told [a]listdaily, “whereas before, when games were launched, nearly all of the team transitioned to another project. Now the team continues to create and deliver new content, improve the game and maintain dedicated support should issues arise.”
“We don’t have an expiration date on a live game,” she said. “As long as we can keep providing the best experience to the gamers, and as long as they are still enjoying the content, it makes sense for us to continue our support. The Crew has been around for two years already and Rainbow Six Siege is entering its second season soon; we can’t wait to see how it goes but it is ultimately up to the gamers to decide! Our responsibility is to keep delivering the best quality possible in everything we do and continuing to listen to and engage our dedicated community.”
