PALGN: What are the plans for Ubisoft in the coming years? Can we expect to see any new long-running franchises popping up at all?
Darren MacBeth: Ubisoft intends to double our revenue over the next four years. To do this we will continue to build our current core franchises and also move into new areas. A goal of Ubisoft is to launch three new franchises every two years. In the past few years we have bought to market new franchises like Brothers in Arms, Blazing Angels, CSI and Far Cry, while reviving brands such as Prince of Persia and Might and Magic. These will soon be joined by a next gen version of Driver, which we acquired from Atari this year and takes us into the hugely popular Driving games segment.
Our goal is to round out our portfolio of games, bringing a mix of internal (Tom Clancy, Assassins Creed) and external (Dark Messiah, Brothers in Arms, Haze) development, strong license partners (Open Season, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, CSI and Lost), re-launch past brands in new and exciting ways (Rayman Raving Rabbids, Petz range) and generally appeal to all gamers. Let’s also not forget sports. We will be there, watch this space!
PALGN: Is there a chance we'll be seeing some Ubisoft franchises on either the Virtual Console or Microsoft's Xbox Live service anytime soon?
DM: We are definitely looking at our extensive back catalogue of titles to see what would fit these business models, but currently we have nothing slated.
PALGN: We know this must get asked a lot, but are there any plans to release a Beyond Good & Evil sequel anytime soon? We would love to see Jade again.
DM: I would love to see Jade again too, but at this stage no new BG&E is planned.
No Beyond Good and Evil sequel planned just yet.
PALGN: Peter Jackson's King Kong was critically acclaimed because it was a fun stand alone game as well as a movie tie in. Next Ubisoft have Open Season coming out. Do you see Ubisoft putting more of a focus on movie to game tie ins in the future?
DM: We have shown an increasing focus on movie and TV properties. Pirates of the Carribean 2, Open Season, Surf’s Up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (this is going to be so awesome) and more are in the pipeline. Our current TV properties include CSI and LOST. We see this segment as being important, but we will also be selective on the properties we choose to work with. I think King Kong and a few of our competitor’s titles (Riddick being a good example) show a new consideration when it comes to licensed properties. The brand alone will only carry a game so far. The actual content needs to be something that fans of the TV show or movie can recognize and enjoy – a more substantial extension of the source material rather than an old game with the licensed characters inserted.
PALGN: As Ubisoft has moved from being a predominantly French company to a multinational/international company, what challenges to development and marketing have you come across? Has this been a smooth transition, and what strategies (if any) have been implemented to tackle the varied demands that different regions place upon developers and their games?
DM: Strategic acquisitions have played the major part in transforming the organisation into a major global publisher. The critical point for the company was the acquisition of the Red Storm studio and the Tom Clancy license. This signaled that we wanted to play in the US market with a dominant US brand. We continued in this way, building a portfolio of properties through the acquisition of the GAME Studio assets (Myst, Prince of Persia, Silent Hunter, Chessmaster) and the Might and Magic brand from 3DO that have increased our foothold in the US market, while also having a strong impact internationally. We have also invested heavily in our own studio structure and now have the second largest internal studio structure in the world. This has meant as we have acquired these properties we have been able to use our structure to bring these exciting titles to market.
The games industry is one of the truly global industries in the entertainment sector. What sells well in the US normally sells well in the UK, France, Australia etc. So by Ubisoft building strong brands and products in the major markets like the US, this has made the job of rolling this out into other territories a lot smoother. That’s not to say it has been all easy, but I think the strategy from Yves Guillemot (founder and president of Ubisoft) has been pretty faultless. However I would also say it has taken us 20 years and a lot of work to be an overnight sensation!
PALGN: One of Ubisoft's biggest franchises Rayman will be returning this year in Rayman: Raving Rabbids, we've heard the Wii version will contain a mixture of mini games but are you able to tell us a little bit about the other versions? For example is the Gameboy Advance version a platformer or does it follow the same format?
DM: The handheld versions will differ in nature to the home console versions and feature more traditional Rayman gameplay, although minigames will be available on these formats as a bonus feature.
PALGN: Can you tell us a little bit about the storyline behind Rayman Raving Rabbids?
DM: Michel Ancel has made it clear that he wanted the story to be as simple as possible. Essentially, for a long, long time, rabbits have been preparing for an invasion and the time has finally come for them to try and take over and rule the world. The game is aiming to be a lot of fun, very funny and as crazy as possible.
PALGN: Is Rayman Raving Rabbids considered the 4th incarnation of Rayman by the development team or more of a spin off title like Rayman M??
DM: This is Rayman 4. Rayman M filled the gap between The Great Escape (Rayman 2) and Hoodlum Havoc (Rayman 3) for the fans.
Rayman Raving Rabbids: Unquestionably Rayman 4
PALGN: With regards to Wii development is there a significant economical difference between developing for the Wii and developing for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3?
DM: Our dev teams have been discovering these differences over the past year. The Xbox 360 and PS3 are working with HD and extremely powerful processors. Compared to the Wii, which innovates in completely different ways, different dev teams are required with different focuses. Ubisoft has traditionally utilised different teams over different formats of the same title so this has not effected us as much as it would other publishers.
PALGN: You have a staggering amount of launch games (8 games in total) planned for the Wii. Do you feel these games will lack a certain quality since many of them are pretty much direct ports?
DM: Red Steel and Rayman are definitely the launch titles that will garner the most interest due to their Wii-exclusive nature. Other titles such as Far Cry Vengeance and Monster Trucks 4x4 will be familiar to those that have played previous versions. However, the new way that players can interact with the games adds a whole new spin on them. We’re aiming for the highest possible quality we can on all our Wii titles.
PALGN: You've recently announced that a steering wheel will be packaged with GT Pro. It has been receiving some negative feedback in response to it not having a solid base, is there a chance that this setup will be changed?
DM: There are no plans to add a base to the Wii wheel. It’s not designed as a realistic reproduction of a car’s wheel. It’s a fun extension of the Wii controller that is used exactly the same way that the Wiimote is, but incorporates a more comfortable design for racing fans.
PALGN: Are you able to tell us a little bit about the Wii version of Prince of Persia? Is it likely to be a port or an entirely new game?
DM: Unfortunately, it’s too early to comment further on this title. We’ll have more information closer to its 2007 release.
PALGN: Can you talk a bit about the setting of Assassin’s Creed and the game’s main character, Altair.
DM: Assassin’s Creed is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was pretty much tearing the Holy Land apart. Altair, the protagonist, is a member of an elite group of assassins, who intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. As Altair, players will be able to throw their immediate environment into chaos and to shape events during this pivotal moment in history
PALGN: With regards to Assassin's Creed does Ubisoft see the game developing into a successful franchise?
DM: Assassin's Creed is planned as the first installment in a series. Once more information is available on the game you’ll get a sense of how the series will progress. It’s a very exciting concept!
Assassin's Creed: Only the first part of the story?
PALGN: Can you tell us a little bit more about how the NPC's in Assassin's Creed will react to certain scenarios?
DM: Assassin’s Creed will showcase NPC AI that simply would not have been possible without next-generation hardware. Expect NPC’s around you to act and react like real people. Indeed, most of the Assassin's Creed development effort has gone into making crowd gameplay. The way you work within a crowd is a central gameplay element of Assassin’s Creed, especially as assassinations will have to take place in broad daylight and in public places.
PALGN: In the case of Red Steel, are there any plans to make this into a series for the Wii, or is the game a one-off?
DM: The success of the game will most likely determine this. Reaction from gamers has been fantastic so far, and Nintendo have really supported everything we’ve been trying to achieve from a development perspective. The core mechanics of Red Steel are sure to be a hit with Wii fans.
PALGN: Red Steel was one of the first games announced for the Wii, how long has the game been in development for? Was the game always set for the Wii or was a decision made later on?
DM: Once our development teams were made aware of the Wii functions by Nintendo in the early stages of the console’s development, Ubisoft were determined to create a title to take advantage of this interactivity. Red Steel is the direct result of developers looking at the Wii and saying ‘hey, you know what would be really cool?’ and building a game they would want to play on that system.
PALGN:What was the reason for setting the upcoming Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six game in Vegas, despite the fact that setting the game in one location could restrict the game's variety?
DM: In terms of the variety that one location can provide, I think all you have to do is look at Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, which was set entirely in Mexico City, but still allowed for a lot of variation in not just setting, but gameplay. Las Vegas offers so much potential in terms of the look of the game. It’s one of the most recognisable US cities with a very exciting feel, and one that players will be shocked to see under attack. Seeing this playground become a war zone gives a greater impact to the game’s events.
We'd like to extend our thanks to Darren for the interview, and make sure you check PALGN tomorrow for our Ubisoft 20th anniversary feature.
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