Ubisoft: Only blockbusters franchises are worth making

Ubisoft: Only blockbusters franchises are worth making
Major publisher Ubisoft has made it clear what kind of games they are willing to make.

Tony Key, the publisher's VP of sales and marketing, says the company is now only interested in video games that can be later developed into franchises.



"That's what all our games are about; we won't even start if we don't think we can build a franchise out of it," Key said. "There's no more fire and forget -- it's too expensive."

Giving examples, Key pointed to the massive marketing behind a series like Assassin's Creed and expressed hope that Watch Dogs could be a blockbuster franchise, as well. Key also noted that they would not be satisfied with Watch Dogs "until we're the biggest game of the year."

"You're making a huge bet on the development side, you've got to be all in," he said (via Verge). "It became very clear to us about two years ago that this is a blockbuster world we live in now."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jul 2013 0:00
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  • 15 comments
  • nintenut

    How ghastly.

    17.7.2013 00:23 #1

  • Bozobub

    Oh, bless you, Ubisoft, for the best press release supporting indie developers ever, bar none.

    17.7.2013 00:28 #2

  • Jemborg

    Originally posted by Bozobub: Oh, bless you, Ubisoft, for the best press release supporting indie developers ever, bar none. I agree, still, a lot of indie developers would love to come up with a franchisable product e.g. Angry Birds.

    Its a lot easier being righteous than right.


    17.7.2013 01:59 #3

  • zxe

    Originally posted by Jemborg: Originally posted by Bozobub: Oh, bless you, Ubisoft, for the best press release supporting indie developers ever, bar none. I agree, still, a lot of indie developers would love to come up with a franchisable product e.g. Angry Birds. Yes got to agree, the bigger boys want the bigger bucks, but will invest more to get it

    17.7.2013 05:31 #4

  • HxCMANIAC

    Yeah because The Last Of Us did so horribly.

    17.7.2013 08:41 #5

  • KillerBug

    Tell me...exactly how do you make a game that cannot be made into a franchise? You can kill off every character and blow up the city (or even planet) at the end of the first game and still make a dozen sequels. You can make an RPG where your choices change the world so much that no sequel could possibly match up except for the 2% of people who happened to take a specific path...and then just put the next game in New Vegas instead of DC so none of the changes you made in the last game have any impact on the new game. Heck, you don't even have to do that...you can just put in a cutscene explaining how events screwed up everything you did between the games. They made a sequel to Tetris for f**k sake.


    17.7.2013 08:59 #6

  • Jemborg

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Tell me...exactly how do you make a game that cannot be made into a franchise? You can kill off every character and blow up the city (or even planet) at the end of the first game and still make a dozen sequels. You can make an RPG where your choices change the world so much that no sequel could possibly match up except for the 2% of people who happened to take a specific path...and then just put the next game in New Vegas instead of DC so none of the changes you made in the last game have any impact on the new game. Heck, you don't even have to do that...you can just put in a cutscene explaining how events screwed up everything you did between the games. They made a sequel to Tetris for f**k sake. Don't forget "reboots".

    Its a lot easier being righteous than right.


    17.7.2013 13:32 #7

  • joebloe12

    I HATE REBOOTS.

    They are a lazy way for idiots to make money off of someone elses original ideas.

    But in this world we live in that is not a shock.

    Whatever happened to making a game with actual playability instead of just great graphics?

    You can have both, but it seems that developers are more interested in the WOW factor of graphics than in the actual storyline or playability of games these days. It is no wonder so many of them flop!

    But how are you going to know if a game is a blockbuster if you do not make it and sell it in the first place?

    It seems ubisoft simply wants to make games that sell a billion copies...that is great IF you can achieve that goal, but a lot of game companies have been trying to come up with a formula to do just that since they began!

    So exactly HOW does ubisoft plan on being different?

    17.7.2013 15:48 #8

  • deak91

    so if i understand
    if you think its a blockbuster game you'll make it and milk it dry. until its dies with part 1...2...3...4...99. that's great until you put the public into your logic. and at 60-70 bucks a game it will be a hard sell and when it fails who are you gonna blame? has any learned from Atari and the E.T. game

    17.7.2013 15:59 #9

  • bigfamei

    They will find themselves out of business pretty soon. If you aren't going to make a great mulitplayer online game. Then you really have to make good story based games. Which are usually poor on mulitplayer. Thats why the price on those games drop nearly in half in the first 3 months after release.

    17.7.2013 17:43 #10

  • Jemborg

    Originally posted by joebloe12: I HATE REBOOTS.

    They are a lazy way for idiots to make money off of someone else's original ideas.
    Indeed. The exception to that may be the latest Tomb Raider game- by all accounts a masterpiece... took everybody by surprise.


    Its a lot easier being righteous than right.


    17.7.2013 20:37 #11

  • joebloe12

    Yeah, the new tomb raider game absolutely ROCKS!

    But I think that is a far cry from many, many reboots I have seen.

    Like the new star trek game based on the reboot movie...absolutely horrible!

    The movie itself was not bad, but the game was.

    18.7.2013 01:44 #12

  • Jemborg

    They almost always are... it's a rule.

    Its a lot easier being righteous than right.


    18.7.2013 23:51 #13

  • xboxdvl2

    Originally posted by KillerBug: Tell me...exactly how do you make a game that cannot be made into a franchise? You can kill off every character and blow up the city (or even planet) at the end of the first game and still make a dozen sequels. ^^^^^^stop describing final fantasy.


    only thing they have to do is make it addictive and have good marketing.

    i have the big screen tv,a ps3 and 5.1 channel surround sound.car still runs smooth and computer still works but its a bit outdated.

    19.7.2013 05:41 #14

  • KillerBug

    Originally posted by xboxdvl2: Originally posted by KillerBug: Tell me...exactly how do you make a game that cannot be made into a franchise? You can kill off every character and blow up the city (or even planet) at the end of the first game and still make a dozen sequels. ^^^^^^stop describing final fantasy.


    only thing they have to do is make it addictive and have good marketing.
    I thought I was describing Fallout and GTA...but I guess I was describing FF better. :)


    19.7.2013 08:38 #15

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