Ubisoft: 30% of Console Games of 2014 Were Open World: "Confirms Players' Appetite for More Freedom"

During the financial conference call for the latest fiscal year, Ubisoft President Yves Guillemot mentioned that the company estimates that 30% of console games in 2014 were open world, which is twice the percentage estimated in 2008 (15%).

[Gwiz]

I think 100% longs for finished and not gimped games.

[oasdada]

I guess im the other 70%.

open world is good but that doesnt mean everything should be open world.. i think liner games have their own place and experience. think about all the best games uve played and Atleast half of them wud be non open world games

[Dark11]

Yes more open world is a good thing.
now with that being said, ubisoft games are worst example for open world game design.

We need More like R* and less like Ubisoft.

[Gwiz]

yup

[Damrock]

30% rings a bell....

Oh yeah how complete Ac unity was when they released it

[jholden3249]

Hahaha, that was a good comment :)

[Jalva]

Well they did say they weren't going to ship a 70% AC game.

http://www.gamewatcher.com/...

[Der_Kommandant]

Too bad Ubisoft games all play the same.

[DarkOcelet]

Yeah, they do.

Climb a tower mission structure was almost in every game they had last year. (The Crew, Far Cry 4, AC Unity)

And the repetition of those games were unbelievably bad.

[Dario_DC]

Sorry but it's still a taste kinda thing...
Not to mention most of Ubi games are open world, tower climbing, repetitive and somewhat boring games... Still haven't finished FarCry 4 for example because I find it's lack of story just plain boring....

[Gwiz]

Blood Dragon,the best thing coming from them.
I'm pretty sure the devs had full creative control over that one.

[dcj0524]

Chaos theory is still my favorite Unsifted game ever.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

We want variety, not every open world to have the same formula. All Ubi games have the same formula: Go to tower, unlock area, collect stuff, do repetitive side missons, story about revenge, and lots of stupid chest. Even The Crew, which is a racing game, had the same thing.

Seriously? Is this what gamers want?

[Gwiz]

It's not really about what gamers want,i think Far Cry 4 is a downgrade compared to what they showed with Blood Dragon.I really hoped for a continuence in a similar fashion with the next iteration of the IP.
It's not a bad game,i totally agree with the repetitive nature of their games.
Blood Dragon in that regard was a very well welcomed change of approach,
i bought Watchdogs as well and i can safely say i'm not going to buy anything
regarding that IP again,heavily hyped and the Bad Blood DLC was lacking inspiration on many levels.Ubisoft essentially are setting themselves up for a massive decrease in sales.

[moegooner88]

The other 70 seem like my cup of tea then.

[clonerz]

Ubisoft great company (my opinion) during ps2 xbox gamecube era now not so much they seem to be all about monetization of every aspect of the game.

[MysticStrummer]

Confirms how many developers/publishers want a piece of that GTA pie.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Not really. They do yes, but its likely due to having bluray and hdds in every next gen system vs like last gen with 1.

Dead Island 2, Batman Arkham Knight, The Witcher 3, AC games etc are all the largest in their respective series, that is likely due to them having more space then last gen to actually create those concepts, even last gen you saw teams seeking that concept, ie Arkham City.

Its not as if we just got a bunch of GTA clones, most of the games in that 30% are not even close to such a concept like GTA or even the same genre.

GTA isn't the only open world title. I can't even say we have a GTA clone to be honest with you, Mafia is literally the closest GTA clone that I can think of.

[MysticStrummer]

Sure GTA isn't the only open world title, but GTA5 was and still is the biggest selling single title. Developers will try to emulate that success just like FPS devs copied Call of Duty all through last generation. That's all I was trying to say.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Mystic-Not really bud, your stating that this 30% "Confirms how many developers/publishers want a piece of that GTA pie"

Problem is...many of those titles are established ips, an even the new ips released that are open world have NOTHING to do with GTA.

Your not generally giving an opinion, your very much stating that the 30% has something to do with GTA...despite the 30% not even being GTA clones and having nothing to do with GTA5.

I don't disagree with that we will see games try to emulate that success....merely that we haven't seen it attempted yet.

Your claim has more to do with that its "confirmed" to already happened in 2014, not that it "will" happen.

I'm sorry but "Developers will try" and "Confirms how many developers/publishers" are not the same thing.

One is saying they "will" in the future, one is saying it "confirms" that they are currently based on the article's data.

Not saying we won't see one, merely that we've yet to actually even have one release. I honestly can't tell you of a "GTA clone" thats released last year or in the last couple years, Mafia is again, the closest and they are currently working on 3. But again, that has little to do with GTA V as Mafia II came out last gen, Mafia III has been in development for some time and is an established ip, not a new ip, thus its existence has little to do with GTA V, the series could have its existence due to GTA in general though.

[diesoft]

Confirms players' appetite for freedom, forces uplay down our throats. Gotcha.

[Bathyj]

70% of Console Games of 2014 Weren't Open World: "Confirms Players' Appetite for linear experiences"

There you go. Statistic proof Linear games are very welcome to gamers. Now can we stop pretending everything has to be sandbox with endless fetch quests. Both genres have their place. Not everything has to be the same.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

The Atmosphere of the Metro games and the creative yet pseudo scripted moments of Hitman games since past, I love those moments in gaming they absolutely seal the deal. Hell even your favourite mission within GTA is technically scripted within the sandbox.

Parasite Eve 2 is one my all time favourite games alongside the Resident Evil (1) HD Redux. Scripted but oh so delicious in the delivery, there's enough freedom within the bounds for the atmosphere and playability to remain in tact.

I prefer the original Crysis to Farcry 3/4.

[TheCommentator]

To me, a repetitive open world game with a 5 hour story and 45 hours of optional filler is still better than a 5 hour game without it. It's fun to go back to a game and still have new stuff to do as long as the combat is engaging. I think open world needs to merge with creative freedom/destruction though. Minecraft on steroids; craft weapons, cars, clothes, buildings and the like but in games more like GTA or Far Cry. Make everything interactive.

Example: Rip a branch off a tree and tie a rock to it to make a club.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

Good call, I'm dying to pick up Dead Rising 3 because you can just do so much, most of it ridiculous but hilarious. I'll never forget finding the mma gloves in the demo and wailing on some zombies toe to toe. I guess maybe what I was thinking but didn't necessarily say is that if they stopped making truly compelling single players or tried to convert every game into open world then that would be awful.

Uncharted open world for example? please Lord no.

[KryptoniteTail]

No no no. No more open world. I don't need every game dropping me off with no direction to be "free." Certain games yeah but they'll make Tetris open world if they can these days. Screw off with this black & white Sith logic.

[MegaRay]

I wont mind an open world Rayman game.