GAMESCOM DAILY In association with


side of Christmas including Splinter Cell, Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed, Rayman Legends and Just Dance 2014. Just Dance has always been a phenomenon for the Wii and last year’s edition performed well on Wii U at Christmas so this Just Dance will help the console to sell very well.


Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance lead Ubisoft’s Christmas line-up


future support will you maintain for the Xbox 360 and PS3? We will go on developing some games for the current gen. But the further we explore the technology of the next-gen and the capacity it offers, the less it will be possible to put everything onto the previous- gen machines.


At some point we will be committed to these new experiences but next year some of our best games will still be on Xbox 360 and PS3.


What do you expect to perform better this Q4: your current-gen line-up or next-gen launch titles? We expect Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed IV to be well accepted. When we look at our pre-orders on next-gen, we think these two games can feature in the Top Five.


But we also have Just Dance


2014, which is the most awaited game on Wii and Wii U. So we have three blockbusters that will do very well.


On top of that we have Splinter


Cell and Rayman Legends. All in all we are confident for the Christmas season. We are very happy to have games at launch for the Xbox One and PS4. Our ambition is to be considered as one of the best publishers at launch for next-gen.


www.mcvuk.com “


Our ambition is to be considered as one of the best publishers at launch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.


Alain Corre, Ubisoft


Speaking of Rayman, that franchise has made a comeback thanks to Origins. Are there any other franchises that you would like to see revived?


We are always trying to reiterate on our big franchises and sometimes it takes a bit more time to find the right idea, angle or innovation. But we are trying to find a way to bring all our big franchises that have been successful in the past forward at some point.


ZombiU isn’t getting a sequel and Rayman Legends is now multi- format – it’s clear Wii U isn’t performing as well as you had hoped. What can Nintendo do? I think it takes time for a new machine to establish itself. Wii U is dealing with this at the moment. We believe Wii U will survive – we have several games coming this


It is odd to see Wii U and its second screen proposition struggling when major publishers, including Ubisoft, are integrating second screen ‘companion apps’ into almost every next-gen title. Well, Wii U was the very first time it had been proposed for the home console. It takes a while for creators to learn how to make a compelling experience with that. I think we did something interesting last year with ZombiU and we’re trying to do that with Watch Dogs– for example, you can help your friend by using the GamePad to divert the police. I believe all major games in the future will have companion apps and second-screen gameplay.


Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon came out in May and was one of your biggest digital wins, selling 500,000 copies in just a few months. Has this raised the bar from what you expect from your digital titles? Yes, we’d love all our download games to sell 500,000. It’s a different type of product with different pricing but I think what we maintain is the quality. If the quality and innovation are there then you have a chance to seduce a lot of fans. This year we have Blood Dragonand next year we have [the HD remake of] Flashback, which I think will also do very well.


Your recent financials revealed UK sales were primarily driven by back catalogue titles, such as Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed III. How do you get so much activity out of your back catalogue? We monitor the lifecycle of our games very closely and have been doing so for years.


We did very well last Christmas and funnily enough, Assassin’s Creed IIIand Far Cry 3 are still in the Top Five or Top Ten of all countries in Europe, which I personally don’t see very often.


August 21st 2013 5 FREE SPIRIT


IT WAS perhaps surprising to see free-to-play game Mighty Quest for Epic Lootshare the stage at Ubi’s E3 conference with the likes of Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed, but it’s indicative of how committed the publisher is to this sector. Ubisoft already sees solid user numbers from established titles like Settlers Online and Anno Online, but Corre says the firm’s ambitions are far higher. “We are still learning on that front,” he tells MCV. “Settlers and Anno are doing very well in Germany and other parts of Europe. The more we do, the better our games will be. Mighty Quest will be the next level of free-to-play games for Ubisoft. “We know the competition is extremely successful. Obviously, we hope that Mighty Quest will be just as successful. Our dream is to be able to reach the top of the charts on free-to-play with Mighty Quest and stand shoulder- to-shoulder with the best titles that are successful today.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14