Ubisoft are moving away from ‘finite experiences’ but let’s not abandon a search for meaning

If the future is 7/10 games with no conclusion, then it might be game over for some of the uncompromising tales we've held most dear.

Dan Dawkins writes, "Ubisoft has been talking about a desire to create games that do ‘not give finite experiences’ i.e. for the game to keep going after you’ve finished it, with unlimited gameplay. “We build a strong nemesis, and the goal of the game is to kill him or free the country, we've done that a few times in our games”, explains Ubisoft’s Executive Vice President of Creative, Lionel Raynaud, whose job title is an exercise in testing finite boundaries. “But when you succeed, you have to leave the game, because there is nothing else to do. So the goal was to break this, and say that you will be the hero of a region or population many times, not just once. And if you get rid of a dictator or an oppressor, something else is going to happen in the world, and you will have a new goal”. I appreciate that life isn’t about riding into the sunset like My Darling Clementine, but I’d rather bow out like Thelma and Louise than live in a world where the clifftop never ends."

[CaptainOmega]

So in essence, a GaaS model. got it.

[porkChop]

GAAS is one possibility, but that isn't necessarily the only way to have a game that doesn't end.

[UCForce]

“Sigh” That’s just make me angry.

[yeahright2]

It's funny because I now feel myself moving away from Ubisoft

[Tsar4ever01]

PlayStation already has it's own GAAS, it's called "Free To Play" It's always been there but it's just Limited and Sony's take on GAAS is just different.
https://www.polygon.com/201...
https://wccftech.com/playst...

[TheCommentator]

Ubisoft is busy filling up their hot air balloon, who wants to go for a ride?

[lociefer]

Is that what we're calling single player games now ? Finite experiences ? Wow and i thought gaas was bad

[indyman7777]

LOL right.......GAAS (RENT TO OWN is not as bad as GAAS....because GAAS is rent to NEVER own) EVER!

[PhoenixUp]

Give us another Rayman dammit

[CaptainOmega]

I wouldn't mind a Child of Light-esque game.

[Hardiman]

Oh so you want more GAAS?!?! No worries I have Sony, Nintendo and quite a few second and third party devs who deliver SP games so I won't miss ya!

[RuleNumber5]

Fuck GaaS. That is all.

[Kokyu]

Then Ill be moving away from Ubisoft games. They used to be one of my favorite publishers now they just suck

[indyman7777]

Some of the EA's former executives have went there!

[DeadSilence]

Seems like they still want to make Single Player games but with some sort of longevity attached after player beats the main story.

Maybe something like Arena battles or some dlc like Horizon did.

[indyman7777]

They would not preach against it if they want to do it. What your talking about is what the game industry has been doing since street fighter (1!). They are talking about abandoning it. And are trying to get support for it.

[mogwaii]

Every ubisoft game I start out excited and into it but it just gets too much and I get exhausted by it then stop playing.

[bluefox755]

Guess I'll be moving away from ubisoft then.

[AK91]

Yup Ubi has been GaaS for a while the only difference between them and EA is that their products are worth playing at launch with enough content for $60 US price point

[Platformgamer]

well, bye bye ubisoft.
see ya when you'll do something good with rayman

[NeoGamer232]

While I agree that some games should not be finite experiences, I do think that there are games that both can and should be finite experiences.

Sometimes it is better to tell a story or a small set of stories than to have a never ending journey.

[Tross]

And forego their annual or bi-annual Assassin's Creed cash cow? I'm sure that will continue to be a thing, albeit with either some forced multiplayer complete with MTs or a ton of DLC that keeps on going, and season passes that leech as much from the consumer's credit cards as humanly possible without losing said consumers as customers. Or maybe both. At this rate they should just launch their own GaaS service complete with DRM that is required to access any future Ubisoft titles and takes a monthly fee so we can choose not to support it or any title that requires it and have the opposite effect on their bottom line than they were going for.

[BlackDoomAx]

Ubisoft goes steamworks, bye bye. Allways on DRM.