Industrial Gaming 13 | Then and Now: UbiSoft

By Barry Lewis 20.10.2006 10

Then and Now: UbiSoft
Barry Lewis :: 19th October 2006 :: Issue 13


In recent editions Industrial Gaming has been very Wii-centric; but the feature is about the industry as a whole. From Nintendo to EA, Sony to Microsoft and even various hot topics of comment and debate. This fortnight sees the launch of a new mini-series, taking an in-depth look at various key developers and producers within the industry, over the course of two editions. UbiSoft most certainly falls into these criteria and with the company growing and utilising all major platforms to expand, they are a perfect starting spot for "Then and Now"....

Looking at the history of UbiSoft and you could easily mistake it for a strange corporate fairy tale. In 1986 Yves Guillemot, President and CEO of UbiSoft, founded the company with little more than his four brothers at his side and a fresh diploma from a French school of business. The young entrepreneur recognised the importance of interactive entertainment in its youth and aspired to grow his company alongside the fledgling industry, becoming a key player in the worldwide market. Interestingly, the name UbiSoft is derived from "ubiquity", the impression of being everywhere or in many places at once, omnipresence, a clear example of the young Frenchman's aspirations.

To realise his ambitions Yves placed his bets on some of the finest young talent at that time, recruiting Christine Burgess-Qu

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Slydevil is offline. Slydevil 19.10.2006#1

Looking forward to part two. Smilie

Ubisoft have been one of the most innovative and consistent companies in recent years..

To quote a million others, hope it continues with the Wii. *doesn't hold breath*.

IANC said:
Dude yuor totally awesome. And i won't be killing you anytime soon.

 
jb is offline. jb 19.10.2006#2

Good stuff mate, nice first part Smilie Good to know a bit more about the Wii's best supporter Smilie

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Wo33eR is offline. Wo33eR 19.10.2006#3

Good article, Ubisoft started well then boom, took over from nowhere

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tiamat1990 is offline. tiamat1990 19.10.2006#4

Go Ubi!!

 
Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 20.10.2006#5

Ubisoft rule.

They prove you can be massive, yet not purely relay on franchises.
Big, yet creative.

One thing worrys me though:
-too much- Wii support.

Seriously, I cant afford more then 2 games at launch, and ones Zelda!

I think they should hold back some and work on them a little, just to stagger releases.
It would be a shame if people say Red Steal or Rayman sold poorly because there was too much choice at the time.

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nin10do is offline. nin10do 20.10.2006#6

Cheers guys Smilie

Didn't know much about UbiSoft so this was a fun little venture, hope you enjoyed it and check out part 2 when I get it published.

It would be a shame if people say Red Steal or Rayman sold poorly because there was too much choice at the time.

I'm very confident in Red Steel and Rayman. Hype around Red Steel pins it as the number 2 launch game (christ it's virtually being treated like 1st party), and Rayman always sells. Should see both hit a million very quickly.

The other Ubi titles aren't looking so promising though...

Barry Lewis [ nin10do :: General Writer :: Feature Writer :: Fountain of Industry Statistics ]
"We're mentalist psychic Scots, which means we can read your mind. If you're lying, your head explodes and we laugh."
 
Martin_ is offline. Martin_ 20.10.2006#7

Is this an article about Rayman?

 
Slydevil is offline. Slydevil 20.10.2006#8

Oni-Ninja said:
Is this an article about Rayman?

No, I think your just shortsighted.

Part two will explore key acquisitions for UbiSoft over the last five years

IANC said:
Dude yuor totally awesome. And i won't be killing you anytime soon.

 
Zapp is offline. Zapp 20.10.2006#9

Well done Barry! great article cant wait for number 2 Smilie

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Laurelin is offline. Laurelin 21.10.2006#10

Yes, wonderful article. I know Ubisoft a bit, since it origined in good neigbour France, they always were innovative, yet a bit strange and not entirely successful game-artists. Just watch Atlantis, Of Light And Darkness, Beyond Good And Evil and so on.
Ubisoft is successfully going against my policy of 'big company is evil, bad and hinders good games'. It's like Nintendo: Ancel may be Ubisoft's Myiamoto and I just recently discovered what I may have missed with Rayman thinking of a Kid's game. just run over at www.raymanzone.com and check some of the videos there.
And the new Flash-page of Raving Rabbids is just mindboggling funny. I may consider buying Raving Rabbids sooner or later. It's the hilarious humour that's great about these games. Even Prince of Persia has some humour in it, as EAish and commercially oriented as it may seem. But it is a lot of fun to play.

I find your lack of faith disturbing!
 

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