In 2007, Ubisoft started investigating a 3D camera from PrimeSense, a startup that was exploring the idea of motion controls for video games. Ubisoft, the big French video game company, decided to invest a lot of resources in finding out how to make games more fun with new kinds of gestures.
The Nintendo Wii had taken off in 2006, and then Microsoft announced its Kinect motion control system last year. By that time, Ubisoft was well on its way to understanding what was possible with motion-control games, said Laurent DeToc, North American chief executive for Ubisoft, at a San Francisco event Tuesday where it showed off its Kinect games. The company revealed four major games for Microsoft’s Kinect, which goes on sale on Nov. 4.
A minority investor in Ubisoft has called on the company to go private amid a shares slump following the release of Star Wars Outlaws.
Wait. So you're telling me spending years and years mainly producing high budget, mid games hasn't been working out for them?
And the weird thing is, this do-same-thing-over-and-over-an d-expect-different mentality is coming from the company, that was partially responsible for Vaas and his famous quote: «Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact same fucking thing over and over again, expecting shit to change. That is crazy.»
Was it foreshadowing?
This started when AC games ditched stealth for RPG. You can see the downgrade in the visuals when compared, but all 3 sold well so I think they kept saying "fck it, people will praise mid games".
Once it started creeping into their other franchises, it all went downhill. I have Ubisoft + so its interesting going thru their whole library of greats just to see when the decline starts.
The last 3 games I bought of theirs were AC Syndicate, Division 2 and Immortals Fenyx Rising. They CAN make goods games, but they're coming less and less frequently.
Your argument here does not make any sense considering the RPG AC games are some of the most successful games in the industry.
@ElaBosak, genshin impact is one of the most succesfull games in the industry ever, does that now mean gaas/gacha is the best gamedesign?
I don't understand, I thought buggy woke AAAA games were the future, and yet the share is sinking almost 40% in complete free fall since the release of SW Outlaws ($3.76 on 30 Aug, - $2.55 today), it's brutal.
Ubisoft has really gone downhill because of the Guillemot family’s bad decisions. They’ve completely lost touch with what gamers actually want, focusing way too much on microtransactions, buggy releases, and XP boosters. It’s like they think these quick cash grabs are the future of gaming, and they don’t care that most of us aren’t comfortable with the idea of not owning our games anymore. The stupid comments they’ve made, along with the idiotic choices, have led to a massive drop in their stock—over 40% since *Star Wars Outlaws* launched. Honestly, I think the only way Ubisoft can improve is if the Guillemots sell the company. They’re holding it back.
Yeah, They have gone into that downward spiral of bad products and trying to chase every penny to make up for it while being anti consumer in the process.
All these companies want to squeeze very penny out of their customers instead of over delivering like a lot of them used to do
or its a buggy bland game, with horrible AI, bare bones mechanics, awful animations, and a predictable boring story
Woke IS a big reason because people are being hired based on their skin colour, gender, what they like to screw and how much they like to play pretend in their heads......instead of their actual skill. Which is why you get a boring, buggy, technically all round crap product like this and all the other steaming piles like it.
When creativity is replaced by a formula, sooner or later people tend to clock on, especially if the end result is continued mediocrity.
The IPs that ubisoft own have and had so much potential to be more than what we got, it's crazy. Watchdogs is a great example. How refreshingly different that looked when the original was announced and what did they do? Chased away all originality and replaced it with what ever insert people choose to call it.
Make less games if you're making too many but really put the time and focus into making each release standout in its own way instead of being generic reskinned worlds.
Ubisoft's significant shareholder, AJ Investments, is pressuring it to go private. The shareholder suggests a cost-cutting plan and advises replacing the company's CEO, Yves Guillemot.
To go private they would need a lot of money so a better option is get acquired by someone and get rid of the current family who controls the company. Nepotism in that company up and down the leadership ladder
Ubisoft's stocks have taken a hit following the release of Star Wars Outlaws, having fallen by more than 10% in two day…
Cool! At this point i just want all these trash "AAA" publishers to die. They've more than earned it with all the lies and consciously instilling what is essentially gambling addictions into customers including children. Let'em burn, we'll be better off for it.
I don't get the sudden surge of Ubisoft Defense on here lately, i swear there's bots out here defending them or something 😅
If Ubisoft includes more diverse characters so gamers can see themselves on screen, then it will appeal to more people.
Obscure_Observer would like the option to have blue-hair options for their characters.
I wouldn't want them to die, because that's 20,000 people out of a job but I would hope they see it as a massive wakeup call.
20,000 prospects for new indie studios or support for other good established devs. Could be a huge win for the industry in the long run.
Losing a job isn't fun but it happens. Adults deal with it.
Most of there games is all quantity over quality.. it puts people off star wars for eg looks good had some great ideas but the main execution was done so poorly and the combat needs to be better! The same team that did the division games which had great combat and gameplay!
Skull and bones wow that should have been cancelled, AC Valhalla was a disaster in terms of the grind and how it felt so boring after 10 hours! Watchdogs was very poor
Let's just hope shadows is there Saviour odessy was a good game overall not much AC in it though!
This has all been brought on themselves bad management and direction with mediocre games
I think they got a sum of money from a country to help with development for Skull and Bones, they had to pay them back if they were going to cancel it. I imagine that's the only reason they kept going with development
I agree with this, (I know they make plenty of good games) the only game I can give high praise to is Avatar Pandora; this game nailed it for me. One of the best to come out of this generation.
They introduced XP boosters because they were making their games more grinding on purpose. The artificial enemy leveling system made sure no matter what you ere always a level or 2 below the enemies. 3 day early releases, 5-10 different editions of each game for release
UBI and WB games needs to be bought out by someone. Both are full of greed
You think a company looking at acquisitions of this caliber somehow would come with a less greed management? LOL
Instead of them dying off it would be better for them to change their practices and give gamers what they want
A crash would bring on real changes but a crash would never happen because of how big this industry has become. End of the day way too many investors get into buying stocks only for money. They could careless about quality of games all they want to see is a spreadsheet full of profits
ten-cent/ owns 49% so they would take the rest
https://www.globenewswire.c...
That would essentially be like one arm of the US government owning Ubisoft and the other half being the Chinese government. Wouldn't happen unless the US force Tencent to sell their half. Which these days doesn't seem unommon. This why it is hard to see the difference between companies like Microsoft and Tencent and partly why they are not popular.
And yet they make absolutely no changes to how they do things. Not going to feel bad for them. Would rather see their IP in fresh hands anyway.
Can you name a publisher that has money and talent to pump into these dormant IPs with uncertain outcome?
Are you happy with how TimeSplitters and Deus Ex ended up in 'fresh hands'?
Embracer was a failed experiment that destroyed themselves spending money they didn't have.
Good, burn yourselves up.
Ubisoft, a long time ago you were a great publisher, but over the past decade you've gone out of your way to create these protracted, filler experiences, and pack them with micro-trash-actions.
You intentionally create a problem with grindy slog fake 'RPG' games, and then you sell the solution for $10 in order to accrue EXP at what should have been the normal rate. Another $10 to accrue resources at a normal rate as well.
Create a problem, and charge extra for the solution. Nope, you don't get my money anymore. And the people who defend your shitty games don't realize that they're screwing themselves over, wasting their lives on low-end junk-tier games.
Honestly, good. Ubisoft has continued to ignore its customers and has repeatedly doubled down on the kinds of things gamers don't want. They've had every opportunity to turn things around and refused. The devs themselves are super talented, but the management and the Guillemot family both need to go. Just last year Yves told all the devs that 2023 was a crucial year and that the ball was in their court to deliver on their games. Yves, you've been holding the ball the entire time.
I agree with you mostly, I do see that some people must have been buying the micro transactions at some point for them to keep doing it. I would put Take Two in the same category. Only difference is 2k games sell very well. Ubisoft however gets the most attention for complaints because the quality of their games has dropped and are in desperate need of redirection.
"That said, the company has made it clear that it believe Kinect can be attractive to hardcore gamers (its primary audience) as well."
I don't see a lot of hardcore gamers lining up to buy something that can't go beyond on-rails games right now.
Kinects 3rd party support it pretty crazy especially considering its not even out yet. But apparently Gamestop has already stopped taking preorders for Kinect due to high demand and its already outselling Move in online charts such as Amazon. So obviously its going to be huge so everyone wants to support it.
So laser tag, red steel, and rabbids w/ kinect?
I'm sooooo excited. /s
Maybe where you are, but in the UK the support is miles lower, all the local shops who are doing pre-order are saying dont worry, just come in on the day as they have way more stock ordered than pre-orders are suggesting will sell.
Cant really leapfrog tech for one reason, MS have never and will never be the leaders in technology, lots of people like to assume because they are so heavily related to pcs that they are the king of tech, false.
Strikes me as marketing BS considering they said that they plan to be the lead third party developer for kinect.... How does it smell in that end of MS hey Ubi?
Im not here to anti, just clear marketing BS should be called
New? lol yeah right. Eye toy hasnt been around since ps2 then hey, guess sony decided to make it when they saw kinect. Its about as new a whitney houstens cleavage. When and if they can make these gadgets work at even 20% the ability of mocap then im interested, until then enjoy your Shovelware games that may as well be wii ports. 2 years ago the xbox people would have shunned this soooo hard, What happened guys? xbox live used to have core gamers, and lower prices.
Try justify it all you want, your getting ripped from all angles and you know it, same as the move buyers who own wii's. Only difference is there is a couple games that are core getting move support, and I still dont want them, same for kinect. But let me ask a question, If kinect daunts move, why are capcom making RE5 move compatable instead of kinect compatable?