During Ubisoft’s earnings call yesterday, CFO Alain Martinez said this year’s Assassin’s Creed will include a live services model, but it will be different than what was seen in Ghost Recon Wildlands and Rainbow Six Siege:
So what we can say is clearly all our games now are bringing live operations, different type. As you said, the live operation of Ghost Recon, are different from the one of Rainbow Six and will be different from the one of Assassin’s Creed. But clearly, the philosophy of all the game that we make is to be able to justify and to bring live operations for a long life, as long as we think it fits for the game.
For the upcoming fiscal year, Ubisoft expects over 25% of their revenue to come from recurring players’ investment in all games, including Assassin’s Creed.
Asked if Assassin’s Creed will come back as an annual franchise, CEO Yves Guillemot said they won’t be commenting on that, but the new game will be shown “soon.” Guillemot was also asked about Far Cry 5 possibly being a Western game, and he said they can’t comment on rumors, but we will get a “lot more information very soon on that game.”
Here’s some other highlights from the earnings call:
- For Honor outperformed Rainbow Six Siege over its first two months
- For Honor is “here for the long run,” and Ubisoft is “now focused on ironing out some of the issues that are typical of a new IP and on developing For Honor’s live operations”
- A Ubisoft record 73% of all players in Ghost Recon Wildlands have played in co-op
- Ghost Recon Wildlands will be supported for a “long time”
- There were more active user playing Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry last fiscal year than the combination of The Division, Rainbow Six Siege, and Ghost Recon Wildlands
- The Crew delivered the same profit in its third year as it did in its second year
- With “more live games generating very profitable recurring sales, the need for quickly offering up sequels is less relevant”
- The new multiplayer game IP they’re working on is now scheduled for the next fiscal year (beginning April 1, 2018). Because it’s a multiplayer game, Ubisoft is “taking enough time to make sure we can test it all the way and make it really a fantastic [experience] for gamers”
- A new Just Dance should be out this year on multiple platforms
- Guillemot said “you will see a new Ghost Recon in the future faster than you would see the new Rainbow Six”
Expect Ubisoft to reveal more details on Far Cry 5, The Crew 2, the new Assassin’s Creed, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, and others during their E3 2017 press conference on June 12.
[Source: Seeking Alpha via Games Industry, DualShockers]
