Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently took some time out to discuss cancelling games that don’t quite make the cut. Guillemot told the site that consumers are much more wary about purchasing subpar games and this hurts the bottom line. Therefore developers and publishers should be more open to cancelling games that aren’t going to live up to expectation.
CVG: How difficult was it to make the decision to scrap the original design [of Rainbow Six] and start again? Among the big publishers, Ubisoft certainly seems the least afraid to go back to the drawing board…
Ubisoft: In a way it was difficult because you have to say ‘OK, let’s do a write-off’. But the business has become a bit clearer; if you don’t make the right decisions, it tells you at the end you’ve made a big mistake. The longer you wait, the bigger the mistake is.
So in a way the decision is easier to make now than it was before. Before we could say, ‘OK, we’ll still sell a couple of million units and monetize our investment’. Today if you are not at the right quality level, nobody will buy. Nobody will like it.
Thanks, Adam F
If nobody buys sub-par games then how are Ubisoft still in business?
Because there games aren’t subpar. Duh!!!
*their
They are less than sub-par, they are atrocious piles of crap
Why? Because you’re a fanboy?
Because, they are awful. I am not a Nintendo fanboy as I will criticise them. The Wii U marketing has been incredibly awful, has a stupid oversaturation with 2D platformers, and Yoshi’s New Island is not as good as it should have been
However, ubisoft make awful games with awful business practices attached to them
Wiiu is failing because the games suck. Not the marketing.
What the hell did you just say lol! The Wii U is failing because “the games ‘suck.’ NOT te marketing?”
I think you got it backwards there. Nintendo has made some of their best games on the Wii U. The marketing of the console has been very minimal up until Mario Kart 8 came out. The Wii U has phenomenal games. I’m surprised someone could think so lowly of them.
yer i hope nintendo can keep up their momentum for a bit now. the industry needs their style as it would be bland and frankly a bit boring in some ways without them.
Wii u has only crap games so far especially mk8. Nothing worth playing
Philistine.
Nice of you to share your opinion. Now go play the PS4 or XB1 if their games are so much better.
its both but their games dont suck they just dont have any desire to make a mainstream casule cover shooter or open world game that plays itself and any dimwit can finish. i was a bit harsh there..i like those games as well :P
That’s probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever said in your career here on MNN.
WiiU is struggling because of shitty marketing (early on) and an fucking epic game drought that lasted over a year.
the games are great. Hell, even the indie games are outstanding. Nintendo just royally fucked up the launch.
And nobody buys a console with only shit games so that could be a reason too
The wii u is failing due to the lack of library. And this is because the install base is low. It’s a catch 22. Third party Developers don’t want to bother making games for it due to the low install base and Nintendo itself had A big delay with games due to the HD development learning curve. Don’t and ms already went through this last gen if you remember as the first year or so was barren on titles. But at least nintendo is stepping up their game.
Rayman Legends was made by Ubisoft and that is far from an awful game.
Rayman Legends, ZombiU and Child of Light. One of my favorite Wii U games. :)
And the sad thing is that Rayman might be one of those games that won´t get a sequel due to bad sales.
Rayman has 10x more charm, imagination and style that megasellers like Watch dogs or Assassin creed will ever have.
Alas, that’s typically the case in the movie & book industries, too. I guess there are fewer connoiseurs in the world, & quality either isn’t obvious, or the majority of consumers just have different tastes or can’t afford to invest the time to truly appreciate quality. To many, entertainment is just that, a way to kill time. Separates the hardcore gamer from the casual.
I personally understand why some people like all of newest Ubisoft games. I can’t say same about Activision. I really like COD but those other FPS games are horrible Cabela, Walking Dead, James Bond, etc..
Sometimes it would have been better solution from some companies to just cancel some mediocre games before release and go back to drawing board. Bad games hurts sales of next games from same publisher.
You remember the games that Ubisoft published on the Wii?
This article should give you an impression of what games Ubisoft publishes:
http://pietriots.com/2010/12/17/the-3rd-party-wall-of-shame/
Nintendo put out the Wii as a “family console” for “casuals”, so why wouldn’t most of Ubi Soft’s games on the Wii try to hit that demographic?
That’s no excuse to make shit games. Games aimed at casuals can be of good quality.
That’s propably why ubisoft seems to have better quality control now than few years ago. They don’t want to ruin their name with shitty games for new consoles.
No it’s pretty fairly fucking obvious ya ball bag
If he was a fanboy then he agree with you!
Dudebros and children buy Ubisoft games. Which are you.
The reason that companies like Ubi, EA and Activision are still in business is because of one simple thing: Dudebros
Having said that, Ubisofts greed and shoddy design philosophy is biting them in the ass of late and their stocks are dropping..
If nintendo did that, thered only be like 1/8 of the games left.
umad?
At chinktendo? No, it’s not their fault they are mentally retarded.
So you’re here on a Nintendo site why?
Because i just said I’m not mad??
Why would you do that to your mom?
becausexbot frones like yiu inly play cod and want to rape ur mom hahah! all xbits like you are immature brats lol!
So you did do that to your mom?
Using the mom joke nowadays is just ridiculous
Because he is the Gimp
Were the women too hard to make again?
hahaha ubisofts alsways to lazy and sexis to make wonam for rehahshes assasssis cree hahaha!
Ubisoft has once again proved Nintendo Commander Quadraxis to be a fool.
But in reality, they just prove how righteous I am…
He is a fool. But don’t be mad because you bought watch dogs and it’s boring
all dicksoft make are rehashshes and lgrbae games hahhah! only thi ghte have are asassssinss ceeddd and rrehashs s garvage wach doges hhahaha!
No… cancelling a game is the worst thing you can do.
I can think of a lot of games that could have been cancelled that would have made the world a better place. Fit Music for Wii U, Superman for N64, Sonic the Hedgehog 06, and some might even argue Wii Music.
You forgot some of the games Atari released that caused the Video Game Crash of the 80s.
Don’t forget Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: Colonial Marines. ;)
I never played Mass Effect before. I needed a new game, it was, like $12 on Amazon. I bought it, I loved it. Would like to play more, but Mass Effect 4 won’t be on Wii U. The same could be true about Assassin’s Creed. It looks cool, I’d be interesting in playing it, but the latest game won’t be on Wii U either, so why bother? I want to buy Watch_Dogs. I might even buy it when it comes out, instead of waiting until it’s, like, $20, but I have to worry that Watch_Dogs 2 won’t come out on Wii U. So is it really worth it to buy at launch? When I could save $40 by waiting a year?
So, Ubisoft, this is a problem. You release these games on Wii U, but there’s no guarantee I get to continue these franchises as they continue. So then it become a case of “the chicken or the egg.” Are people not buying your games because they don’t trust you or are you not releasing your games because nobody is buying them? You’re the million dollar company, I say this is your move. Tell me I don’t have to worry about getting invested in a franchise, only to have it taken from me and I won’t be afraid of buying your stuff.
I want to be a loyal customer to you, but I expect some loyalty in return. And the fact is, I’m not buying a PS4 or XBox One for you. And that seems to be your plan. Release one game for the Wii U, then say “Fuck you” when it’s time for a sequel. You’re hoping I’m invested enough to buy Sony or Microsoft. Instead, I’ll just wait until a price drop of the games you do decide to release because that’ the relationship you’re building with Nintendo fans. One where they can’t trust you.
STFU and play the games…
How can he/she when they don’t release the damn games?…
Owned him…
I own everybody…
Awww. Are you butthurt he won’t buy from a 3rd party company that has no loyalty to the current Wii U install base?
Thomas you’re the smartest person here. (No trolling)
Well said.
Regardless of how you feel about the quality of Ubi Soft’s games, the title of this article is misleading, because that’s not what he said at all.
Stop pushing games out so fast. Also lower prices so we’re not waisting so much! Zombie u was a decent game! Please make sequel.
yer whatever ubi thats fine just dont flip flop around and stick to your guns a bit more please. I know you like money …just…finding it hard to trust you and thats not good.
This just in! Ubisoft thinks mediocre retreads are better than sub-par retreads.
If that’s the case, then why do actual bad games (And not games a specific person doesn’t prefer) exist?
If that is the case then why wasn’t Watchdogs canceled?
Agreed…
Atleast the Gearbox facility shut down Aliens: Colonial Marines…
Watch Dogs for Wii U will propably get a lot higher metacritic score because biggest problems with game will be propably patched in Wii U disc version. Something good about that later release day. :)
What the fuck does this have to do with Nintendo? Sickr, dont do this shit! This is a NINTENDO NEWS site! Dont write anything about something that has nothing to do with Nintendo! Write this on a Ubisoft news page instead!
To be fair, about 90% that happens in the gaming universe directly or indirectly concerns our empire…
That is like the furthest thing from “fair”.
How about cruel?…
*wink*
Whaddup with the wink?
I really hate you quad
Good for you, I hope you enjoy your hate for the rest of your little life…
I suppose he thought that since Ubisoft has been (not) so very chummy with Nintendo lately in terms of games, he thought posting something that doesn’t have a single inkling of Nintendo would still have relevance to Nintendo. You know, because of Ubisoft’s (weak) relationship with Nintendo these days.
Jesus Christ, hardcore tribalism/fanboyism. Are you also like this when it comes to news about different countries?
Clam down, it’s only in your head.
And how is Assassin’s Creed selling then? The irony…
Just make another Prince of Persia & make it well & on Wii U.
But return to the Ubisoft that gave the N64 Buck Bumble; the GameCube Batman Vengeance, & the PoP trilogy; the Wii 2 a PoP (albeit watered down), 2 Red Steels, Rayman Origins, published 2 No More Heroes, & published an awesome Tenchu game; the DS a PoP (better than Wii’s); the 3DS Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars; the Wii U ZombiU, Rayman Legends, & Child of Light. Sequels to those or something new in the vein of those genres for Wii U would be nice. Just…stop treating Wii U like a triplet so much.
I miss the mid-range games that existed in the early 2000’s. They weren’t quite indie games made by a couple of people, and they weren’t big studio AAA titles, they were somewhere in the middle. These games were often the most fun, games like No One Lives Forever and Armed & Dangerous.
or you could invest more time into the game
Ubisoft should have done the Wii U a favor & just made Zombie U for the Wii U & kept Rayman Legends for Wii U on time. And they never should have told us about Wii U versions of Assassin’s Creed 3, Assassin’s Creed 4, & Watch_Dogs. They wouldn’t be getting the hate they are now for the subpar Wii U games.
This article itself is making me wonder what will be the next thing we hear from Ubisoft. In fact, I can hear it now.
“We’re canceling Watch_Dogs for Wii U because we feel the game will be too subpar for Nintendo’s fanbase. We are sorry to those that were interested in this game for Wii U. Please understand that we can’t take the risk with releasing the game to the console. But if you still want the game, we hope you buy one of the other versions. Have a nice day.
Sincerely, Ubisoft”
Well… I already lost all the respect i had for this company, I’m tired of their bullshit.
Well WATCHDOGS is a big pile of godzilla crap