Ubisoft is, by and large, one of the biggest publishers in the industry. It’s a company that can afford to have thousands of staff dedicate time to a sprawling sequel such as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, or to galvanise a team to bring about an all-new, triple-A IP in the form of Watch Dogs. Thankfully, the respective success of each title has allowed the French publisher to break the mould and take risks of late, with Child of Light and Valiant Hearts being notable examples of such a trend.
Satisfy the mainstream audience while simultaneously guiding personal projects to development. It’s a two-fold plan that, in theory, balances creativity with commercial success, and it’s one Ubisoft is looking to continue with Alex Hutchinson, the creative director on Far Cry 4.
Speaking to CVG, the dev revealed that the studio has indeed greenlit his personal project, and stated that Ubi wants to continue to push experimental titles following the success of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon along with those two aforementioned adventure titles.
“I’ve got clearance along with a bunch of people from AC3 and AC4 to go off and do something new after [Far Cry 4],” Hutchinson told CVG in a recent interview.
“The challenge then is to keep costs down and make something that competes at a high level, without saying ‘we need a thousand people for a new IP!'”
While Hutchinson certainly has the talent behind him — a team formed up Ubisoft Montreal alumni — the creative director confirmed that the project is still a ways away from entering development, as it needs to be vetted by the company’s internal editorial team before he can get the ball rolling. Nevertheless, if things go according to plan, he teased that we could see the nascent title jump from the proverbial drawing board sometime next year.
Hutchinson’s work on Far Cry 4 is now complete. Be sure to check back to We Got This Covered in the coming days to find out our verdict of the studio’s Himalayan adventure.
