At last week’s Ubisoft Forward event, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot spoke to Gamesindustry.biz about the state of the games industry, and what makes Ubisoft stand out from its competitors.
Ubisoft is one of the biggest names in gaming, and it’s steadily increasing its footprint in the mobile gaming industry, leading to gaming giant Tencent acquiring a 49.9% stake in parent company Guillemot Bros in September. Much of its success in the mobile space comes from successfully bringing established IPs to mobile devices, a trend that’s due to continue with the upcoming launch of Assassin’s Creed Jade and Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence.
“We are taking advantage of opportunities to make sure the brands we create can be played by more people across the world,” said Guillemot. “It’s very important to concentrate on that.
“Having Assassin’s Creed on mobile means that a game can be in more territories and more people will experience it. This will enable us to increase the budget so we can create and innovate within the brand.”
Guillemot also highlights the potential of established IPs to bring gamer’s attention to the potential of mobile as a gaming platform.
“I just met some Star Players [Ubisoft fans invited to events] and they told me they never thought they’d play a Division game on mobile – they are Division fans – but they played it today and are now going to get it, because it got to the essence of what The Division is. It’s just another way to experience the brand.”
The importance of strategy
Guillemot believes that Ubisoft is well-placed for success for several reasons, including being among the first to explore new technologies, platforms, and business models and applying them to gaming, getting involved early to become a trendsetter as opposed to attempting to make inroads into a crowded market after the fact.
“Those other publishers… they buy a company. We try to build things,” Guillemot says. “Having said that, Activision was able to do a deal with a Chinese publisher to do Diablo and Call of Duty [on mobile devices]. So we have done a bit of the same. We will create our own AAA mobile games, and we’ll work with other publishers with some of our brands, too. It takes a little bit of time, especially when you enter a new world like free-to-play.
“If you look at our last Assassin’s Creed… it did more than $1 billion in revenue. Rainbow Six is also doing well and we are coming with Rainbow Six Mobile, which will help reach a broader audience. We are growing our brands. And it’s our goal to make sure our plans become bigger for these games, as well as creating new things, too.”
Guillemot’s words paint an optimistic picture of the company’s future. The company remains bullish regarding its slate of upcoming titles, however it saw a 56.1% year-on-year decline in sales in 2022.
