If you enjoyed Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs and marveled at yet another successful game franchise coming out of the indie juggernaut, you may want to savor that feeling…because the company may not be rolling out a lot of new intellectual properties in the foreseeable future.
Speaking with Games Industry International in an interview re-reported by Crave gaming site Destructoid, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guilemot said employing the manpower necessary for an independent publisher to create entirely new gaming franchises while maintaining already successful ones like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry is beyond their ability.
“On the big brands, we won’t be creating too many more. We’ll still have teams with new things on the way, but we’ll probably be doing less new things if the ones that we’ve created are successful. When a brand is successful you need more people taking care of it. Either you expand, or you focus.”
However, Guilemot didn’t completely stick a fork in the idea of new IPs, admitting excited developers can occasionally get new concepts off the launching pad.
“You never know,” Guilemot said. “Those teams can be interested in new opportunities.”
At less than half the size of indie competitors like Activision and Electronic Arts, it’s not hard to see why Guilemot is hedging his bets and unwilling to close any doors. But under the circumstances, you might expect Ubisoft to stick with their tried-and-true successes for at least the immediate future.
