Ubisoft revealed that the company is planning on making a move to release less games annually, with a larger concentrated focus on current releases with high player bases and maintaining those communities.
Throughout the years, the Rennes, France-based video game publisher - whose franchises include Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s, amongst others - has maintained a business practice of churning out games for the sake of churning out games. Often, this has come at the expense of the quality and support of its releases, which would be over-hyped, with underwhelming and under-delivered results (we’re looking at you, The Division).
This shift in Ubisoft’s business model can likely be primarily attributed to the success of the first-person shooter, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, which has maintained a massively active online player base, despite having been released in December 2015. Siege’s success has been highly praised for its dedicated support and DLC updates featuring new content, keeping players invested in the game.
In its 2017 annual report, chief executive officer, Yves Guillemot stated that the move is also reflective of the overall game industry’s shift to a focus on the longevity of games, providing quality DLC content and support for games already on the market, rather than focusing on the number of games released on an annual basis. Besides Siege, Guillemot specifically mentioned Assassin’s Creed: Origins, the most recent installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise released in October 2017, indicating that future DLC content is planned for critically acclaimed title.
It is refreshing to hear that Ubisoft’s focus is moving towards a more quality-based model. Recent success with this business model has clearly been seen within the industry already. Grand Theft Auto V is a great example of how well a title can do years after its release, with Rockstar consistently releasing massive DLC content and updates for Grand Theft Auto Online, keeping the game fresh while keeping player engagement levels high; a model which has also continued to maintain high levels of game sales overall.
Ubisoft’s 2018 slate of game releases include Far Cry 5, Skull and Bones, and The Crew 2. Hopefully, the success of Siege will help drive the company’s objective for the upcoming games as it shifts towards more long-term engagement with its titles.
