Ubisoft Making Big Structural Changes to Create Better and More Unique Games
While Ubisoft has created many solid games this generation on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo [...]
While Ubisoft has created many solid games this generation on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, its games have also become formulaic and unvaried. That said, the massive French company is aware of this, and is also aware it's a problem. Addressing this issue, Ubisoft has revealed it has plans to make changes to its current editorial structure. In other words, it's making changes to the small group of individuals who are responsible for the design and creative direction of every game they publish. According to Ubisoft, the hope is that if they make changes to this element of how the company makes games, the result will be more unique products.
"We are reinforcing our editorial team to be more agile and better accompany our development teams around the world as they create the best gaming experiences for players," said Ubisoft while speaking to VGC.
According to VGC, Ubisoft's editorial team was comprised of roughly 100 lead developers who were in charge of influencing the games coming from all of Ubisoft's studios. Naturally, this led to a homogenization of design, which is why so many Ubisoft games are open-world, full of shallow content, and have multiplayer and games-as-a-service elements stuffed into them. For awhile, this worked for Ubisoft, but this has slowly but surely been changing.
"In the previous system that editorial had, there were often the ideas of just one or two people getting put into every game," an anonymous source reportedly told VGC. "That's why you tended to see such similarity, because it's the same taste and opinion being replicated."
Now, while Ubisoft has had a decent amount of financial success lately, it's seen less critical success. Not that long ago, Ubisoft gave us some incredible games, like Far Cry 3 and the early Assassin's Creed titles. Some may not remember it, but not every Ubisoft game used to feel similar to every other Ubisoft game. Thankfully, it sounds like the company's leadership wants to get back to this.
Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment or two or three letting us know what you think. What's your favorite Ubisoft game to date?