Always-online services need to provide clear benefits says Ubisoft boss
With the PlayStation 4 officially unveiled earlier this year and Microsoft expected to announce a successor to the Xbox 360, developers and publishers alike are preparing for the next generation of home consoles. British newspaper The Guardian spoke with Ubisoft Montréal chief executive Yannis Mallat about how his company is preparing for Sony and Microsoft’s new hardware.
Mallat predicts that this next generation will feature much more connectivity between games, both through in internet and other devices. Yannis used the example of Watch Dogs and its drop-in/drop-out multiplayer and how it will “blur the lines” between online and offline play. Recognizing that the way players experience games has changed in recent years, Yannis spoke briefly about trying to better adapt to today’s trends, saying, “We used to say that we’re not competing against other games, we’re competing for leisure time. We have to craft our experiences around the way people are now consuming entertainment.”
Elaborating, Mallat briefly discussed new cross-platform possibilities with new games, such as staying connected to a game such as Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry through means like a tablet or smart phone. Mallat said, “We will have companion games that let you stay immersed in the universe even when you’re not in your living room.”
Additionally, Mallat was asked for comment regarding the rumors about Microsoft’s new console being potentially online-only. He stopped short of directly endorsing an online-only machine, despite his enthusiasm, saying that he felt that the market was ready for an always-online console. However, Mallat sounded cautious about how the perks of online-only could be presented to consumers, saying, “As soon as players don’t have to worry, then they will only take into account the benefits that those services bring… These services need to provide clear benefits.”
Lastly, though specifications for the PlayStation 4 have been close to the chest until very recently (and Microsoft’s new Xbox entirely absent), Mallat told The Guardian that Ubisoft gave itself a head start for developing on unfamiliar technology. Mallat elaborated, saying, “We were pretty prepared on the technology side of things – we didn’t wait for the console manufacturers to provide the specs, we’d already invested in high-end PCs and made sure our engines and pipelines were ready to tackle the next-gen machines.”
Follow Andrew on Twitter: @iamaparade