Are Ubisoft The Best 3rd Party Developer In The World?

MasonicGamer.com: All the way back in in 1986 a man named Yves Guillemot fresh out of completing his business studies launched Ubisoft Entertainment alongside his four brothers. The company wasn’t so much known for their games but rather for their role as a publisher who distributed games for the likes of Electronic Arts if you can believe that. Initially Ubisoft were only distributing games in France where the company was originally set up but eventually branched out into other territories such as North America.

It wasn’t until the early 90′s that Ubisoft began developing their own games, I think the original Rayman is perhaps the earliest memory most will have of Ubisoft. It was a little cute 2D platformer with plenty of charm, probably one of the childhood games you grew up with if you’re currently in your 20′s. Since then Ubisoft has continued to grow both as a publisher and as an upcoming developer.

If I had to pick a specific point in time when Ubisoft started to turn heads it would have to be 2002′s Splinter Cell.

[Da Ill One]

Not as long as a company called Rockstar exists they aren't...

[Mr-SellJack]

no just no they're excellent but just don't offer much variety in their games that will stand to all audiences,and about a game every year now that's just sad

[phantomexe]

Theres a reason for that, fans of AC want it. AC universie is to big for 1 game ever 2 years. Each game is unique so if you don't like this you may like that. Each story is different but links a bigger story. I love it and can't wait for AC4.

[omi25p]

Variety? They have killed almost every major franchise they have this generation.

Splinter Cell is ruined
Ghost Recon is ruined
Assassins Creed is milked

Watch dogs is really the only thing they have going for them at the moment.

Rockstar have been faultless from start to finish this generation.

[BattleAxe]

At times Ubisoft seems like they have the best games out there, but then they do things like screw up the resolution on Rainbow six Vegas for PS3 where if the game is being played on any resolution other than 720p, the picture looks fuzzy. They also have bad server/ connection issues with most of their games.

The biggest problem with Ubisoft is that they rarely fix major issues with any of their games. Its too bad, because if their games worked properly, I would go so far as to say that they are definitely in the top 3 for game developers.

[FunkMacNasty]

@ omi25p

I would have to disagree that Ubi ruined Splinter Cell.. SC:Conviction gets bashed alot around here, but If youre a true splinter cell fan, you likely enjoyed Conviction. It brought a lot of closure to Sam and Grim's story and had a nice little plot twist in the middle. And contrary to what evreyone around here says it WAS a STEALTH based game, with the exception of 1 or 2 deliberately scripted action sequences, where you are forced into duck-and-cover gunfights. Other than that, 95% of the game was classic splinter cell, with a few new and improved gameplay mechanics

[Kran]

Ubisoft:

Bit of platforming
Bit of open world
Bit of shooter
Bit of dance
Bit of assassins

Not saying they're good at what they do, but there's a lot of variety.

Rockstar:

Lots of open world
Lots of just killing s**t

And that's Rockstar in a nutshell these days, bar Max Payne 3.

I like Rockstar, don't get me wrong, but they're just as controversial as many devs, and not in a good way.

[phantomexe]

That sumed it up well.

[jetlian]

Ubisoft is my favorite and has been for a few years. Rockstar is way to overrated.

I think Rockstar fans are from a generation behind me.Open world games all feel the same. Far to much traveling just to increase hours of gameplay

Lets see what ubi got that I like, SC,AC,POP,GR,RS, and FC. Possible rayman back in the day and BG&E "I have it on xbla but haven't played it yet"

EA might be 2nd lol BF,ME,MEdge,FN,and AOT

[Jayjayff]

GTA has become a world of its up and has quite an outstanding universe on it, along with its satire of American culture makes me think you're not paying attention to it.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

CDPR

[MYSTERIO360]

For me the top 5 are:
-Ubisoft
-Take two interactive
-EA
-Square enix
-Konami

[soniqstylz]

Really you could just go with Take Two.

NBA 2K
Bioshock
Red Dead
GTA
Borderlands
Civilization
XCOM

[Gamer1982]

I think Take Two are amazing publishers but as developers they aren't great. Saying that Ubisoft are not top dog that could change next gen with games like Watch Dogs. Though with some absolute right crap games this gen its hard to pick a top 3rd party dev.

[WiiUsauce]

Rockstar puts out like 1 game a year. Granted their stuffs really good, but Ubisoft is more consistent and more frequent with quality releases. I'm really looking forward to Splinter Cell Black List, Rayman Legends, Watchdogs, and Assassin's Creed Black Flag.

Even though a shitload of people hate them right now, I still love Capcom. I've been playing a crapload of Resident Evil Revelations, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Megaman 2&3, and Super Street Fighter IV on my 3DS recently.

Atlus and XSeed are amazingly awesome too.

[Brian1rr]

I like Atlus the most

[Game4life]

personally Namcobandai is my favorite :) but atlus is pretty good too :)

[Lockon]

Namco Bandai sucks. They never freaking patch their Naruto Games.

[Qrphe]

Out of all the options every one as put up I like your option the most.

[nthstew]

then who else? :} they are better than ea ,activion ,capom combined.

[icewater85]

Not trolling, but I think EA has the best 3rd party games. They have quality games in every category. Dragon Age, Mass effect, Battlefield, Madden, Dead Space, Fifa, etc. They may not have the best game of that specific category, but to me they have the most quality 3rd party games.
My favorite 3rd party publishers are NIS and Atlus.

[RXL]

so you prefer quantity over quality?..

meh..i prefer it the other way around...but to each their own..

[chronoforce]

EA went and brought all the studio's that make their games if they had not they would still be making medal of honour and Fifa. They are far from being the best.

[Gamer1982]

How is picking EA picking quantity over Quality with games like Mass Effect, Red Alert, Dead Space and Dragon Age? Not to mention the niche market yet massively selling games like the sims. People may hate them but they make some cracking games!

[icewater85]

@RXL I stated some of the games I like that EA has come out under the EA logo.

@chronoforce so what if they bought the companies. The games still came out under EA's name, so that makes them EA games.

[Dark_Overlord]

From my experience they're not, they pull the same crap that EA, Acti etc pull, online passes, Disc Locked Content (AC2) etc etc and they have terrible customer support.

[Gamer1982]

This si about developing games here and about the quality of them though not the DRM etc.. If you take that on board EA has top games in nearly every category and thus for that reason has to be mentioned up top.

[Dark_Overlord]

I'm sorry, but you can't just pick 1 aspect of a company when defining them as the best, you have to look at the whole picture.

[Moncole]

No. Seeing how they use Uplay for their PC games than they cant be. For a company to be the best it needs no flaws.

[majiebeast]

Big publishers:Ubisoft

Smaller one's:Atlus,NIS or Xseed.

[r40k213]

CD Projekt (The Witcher devs+GoodOldGames) is by far my favorite 3rd party developer. Updating your games years past release and releasing DLC completely for free? Instant-win in my book.

[NYC_Gamer]

Take Two is a lot better in my opinion

[weekev15]

I would say they are the most rounded. They have rabbids for kids, just dance for folks that like that sort of thing, farcry and assassins creed, whilst still bringing new IPs to the table like Watch Dogs and ZombiU.

[millzy102]

not only that but they never hesitate to support any new platform there usually the one of first devs to get on every system release at launch. there not a perfect company but I like them a lot more than most.

[josephayal]

ubisoft makes the best games

[Ron_Danger]

Too hard to say since all the publishers offer so many different choices. I do know that Far Cry 3 is in my top 5 best games this gen.

[Vettur]

Nope, Bethesda

[RuleNumber5]

Says the person with the Bethesda video game as his/her profile pic.

[Vettur]

haha, guess it came out a bit wrong making me look like a little fanboy :P

Personally I think Bethesda makes some of the best games out there. I've never really found the same love in neither any ubisoft games, nor any other developers.

I must, however say that the game "Watch Dogs" looks really great, and I'm getting pretty excited for it now :)

[Rampaged Death]

Rockstar and Valve are ahead in my opinion.

[aliengmr]

From a PC gaming perspective, no. CDPR easily tops them simply by not being dicks.

[FantasyStar]

CDPR makes only one-kind of game. Whereas Ubisoft makes all-kinds of games that are consistently "decent enough". Like Sony. Like Nintendo. Unlike Microsoft and their hard-ons for shooter-based games.

[aliengmr]

Good library or not, the implementation of draconian DRM and saying that 95% of your PC customers are stealing your games does not make them the "best".

You also have to consider the negative impact that DRM has on those "good" titles.

In fairness they have been trying to improve so I won't claim they're garbage. They are good.

I get the point of the article, but when the head of a company assumes that I am going to steal their games based on erroneous or made-up data, that company doesn't deserve to be called the best.

CDPR may not make many different games but the way they treat their customers goes a long way IMO. It also adds value to their games.

Its a perspective thing. Console gamers have little experience with CDPR or horrible DRM so its completely fair to disagree.

[babis1974]

Rockstar, Bethesda, 2k, Take two...

[yugovega]

thq was the best by far. but since their gone i'd give it to ubi

[SilverFiz]

Overall out of the big publishers, maybe, but they're no where near perfect.

[fsfsxii]

Ubisoft would be great if they stop milking their good games (AC)

As for the best 3rd party publisher, i can't think of any

[Arai]

Things changes up with every generation that goes by, what's good/great now might not be the next generation....so this article is pointless.

[Venoxn4g]

My one would be Platinum games/Clover...

[Kietz]

Easily one of.
I have a lot of respect for the company. They certainly do their fair bit of milking, but the release some truly stellar and interesting games.

[Alcohog]

All of their games are either out the door too quickly or their staff are just not that talented. Every single release feels broken or under performs. For me personally they are one of my least favorite developers, if other studios were making the same games the world would be a better place.

[Rask]

Hell no.

[SITH]

Compared to EA? Yes but not by much.

[0pie]

Nope in fact they are one of the worst. I cant forget assassin creed 1 and avatar and the michael jackson game

[MYSTERIO360]

yeah but every company has a few hiccups now and then, EA has had secret world and syndicate and Activision walking dead and TMNT to name a few.