A feature that appears to be synonymous with the next generation of consoles is the open-world quality within games, and according to CEO of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot, the illustrious French studio plan to release open-world games on a “regular basis.” In an interview with Polygon, the CEO was joined by Serge Hascoet – Ubisoft’s chief creative officer – to discuss the appeal of connected gaming communities and always-online.
“We need to release open-world [games] on a regular basis. Open-world has proved to be the clear direction where game genres evolve,” Guillemot said. “It began with GTA for the action segment, then it happened to adventure with Assassin’s Creed; to the RPG with Skyrim and last year was its first major entry into FPS with Far Cry 3. The Crew showed at E3 that it can also be a big differentiator for the driving segment and excitement around The Division confirms how relevant it is to RPG games.”
With nine open-world games in the past five years, Ubisoft are well versed in pushing the physical boundaries within a virtual environment, and with games such as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs looming on the horizon, the company show no signs of spinning their wheels. And with such an extensive catalogue of collaborative studios, Ubisoft are able to develop next-gen titles such as The Division and The Crew while still polishing the aforementioned games ahead of their release on the current generation of systems later this year.
In saying that, the studio have focused intently on the upcoming Playstation 4 and Xbox One and according to Guillemot, have underlined 5 design mechanics that all future Ubisoft games will strive to incoporate.
“Those breakthroughs are systemic gameplay, co-op and social, low barriers to entry, user-generated content, and personalized experience through analytics.”
It seems as though ‘seamless multiplayer’ wasn’t just an E3 buzzword, but instead serves as the blueprint for studios with a desire to release a game for the next-gen systems.
What do you think, though? Are you excited by Ubisoft’s proposition to remove the ‘artificial feel’ of games? Or are you a little apprehensive about software being compromised in order to accommodate some degree of multiplayer? Let us know what you think below.
