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Ubisoft’s revamped editorial board want to stop stagnation in their gamesBreaking point
Breaking point
As it happens, having a select group of designers and producers in a France deciding your multi-national publisher’s every move results in a bunch of games that may feel a little too familiar. In an attempt to fix an arguably tired formula of sneakin', climbin' and stabbin', Ubisoft are revamping their editorial team to give their catalogue a shake-up.
The publisher has alreadydelayed many of this year’s big releases, includingWatch Dogs: LegionandGods & Monsters, to ensure they don’t launch with Breakpoint’s technical troubles. But Breakpoint was also blasted for being a bit of a chimaera, mashing up traditional Ubisoft mechanics haphazardly into a wholly adequate open world.
It was every Ubisoft trick in the book, with nothing to differentiate it from even predecessorWildlands. As our own Matt put itin his review, simply having “a massive and meticulously-crafted open world just doesn’t cut it” anymore.
Instead of the same heads making the same decisions for their games, Ubisoft’s new editorial structure is giving seven vice presidents their own franchises to run as they see fit. They’ll still check in with each other and CEO Yves Guillemot from time to time, but will largely have autonomy over their given IP. That’s in stark contrast to a previous system where - while each game would have at least a line designer and producer - series showrunners would largely be at the mercy of chief creative officer Serge Hascoet’s whims.
An anonymous source told VGC: “In the previous system that editorial had, there were often the ideas of just one or two people getting put into every game. That’s why you tended to see such similarity, because it’s the same taste and opinion being replicated.”
If shaking up the top brass is what it takes for Ubisoft to take risks, I’m quietly excited for the results. It’s about damn time Ubisoft games got weird.
