Former SH5 Producer Alexandru Gris talks about Software-Quality

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...s-says-ubisoft

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by Barso

Console market "not supporting full range of products," says Ubisoft

The home console market is no longer supporting alternative products for big publishers, leaving only blockbuster titles to break the top ten and become profitable.

That’s according to Ubisoft Euro MD Alain Corre, who told GamesIndustry.biz that it’s safer to invest in one AAA title rather than hedge bets on a handful of smaller productions.

"The games that are not triple-A are not profitable anymore," said Corre in an interview published today. "And that’s changed in the last 18 months.

"When you have a triple-A blockbuster it costs more money to develop, but at the end of the day there’s also the chance of a good return on it because there’s a concentration at the top of the charts. To a certain extent it becomes less risky to invest more in a single game or franchise than spreading your investment between three or four games. Because if those three or four games are not at the right quality level, you are sure to lose money," said Corre.

"So the business model has changed and we’re changing our way of making hardcore games. With hardcore games that we’re not sure are reaching the right level, we stop work on them. And that’s why we concentrate more on key franchises, because that’s what the market wants - something new with huge quality production behind it. The market is not supporting the full range of product that it used to anymore."

Although the French publisher has brought new IP to market successfully this generation with Assassin’s Creed, Corre said that upcoming strategy game RUSE might be the last new franchise from Ubisoft until a new generation of home consoles, as establishing new brands is proving too expensive.

"It is more difficult now. To launch a new IP you have to invest much, much more marketing to establish it, and if you add up the huge costs of development plus the investment in marketing you cannot be 100 per cent sure the target audience you’d expect, which is needed for the comeback on the investment.

"Especially in this part of the cycle of the consoles, we are cautious now to introduce new brands. We’ll concentrate on the ones we have and make sure we bring them to the next level in terms of quality."

The full interview with Alain Corre, where he also discusses his view on monetising console multiplayer, can be read here.

A very depressing outlook for the games industry if there ever was one.

Basically means - From now on we (ubi) will only invest in AAA titles in already well established franchises that require almost no marketing.

Roll on Splinter Cell 12, Assasin's Creed 8, Far Cry 6, etc etc.

Bon-voyage Silent Hunter!

Indeed my friend.
I think it's safe to say the silent hunter series under ubisoft is now dead.

[Lord Justice]

4para is unhuman, he posts in many styles, the word bender is good, he has the character of a troublesome fool, forgive his good manners and conduct, he never complains, or whinges, he never attacks individuals personally, he is unusual, therefore unworthy, not perfect, not serious enough, not taking the bait. clearly you are the better man Nisgeis I shall stand down. well done may i applaud you.

[armin]

For me silent hunter 5 is dead. Only true silent hunter for me is III+gwx. I play silent hunter 4 only from time to time. If someone would use ships and stuff from silent hunter III i would be all game. Its sad ubisoft screwed sh5 big time. only thanks to dedicated sh modders is the franchise still alive.

That's why it would be great if we saw a GWX4.
If only the modders could abandon SH5 and bring SH4 up to par with GWX3.

[Will-Rommel]

Lol, it almost looks like i'm the only one here who followed up the exchange between Nisgeis and 4Para.

It's totally off topic, but god did i laughed !

[longam]

Originally Posted by Barso

That's why it would be great if we saw a GWX4.
If only the modders could abandon SH5 and bring SH4 up to par with GWX3.

So what your saying is SH3 sucked before GWX?

That's just twisting my words.
I never knew SH3 before GWX.
But I do enjoy it more that SH5 stock.

[longam]

Originally Posted by Barso

That's just twisting my words.

Not really, because I knew SH3 before from stock, and also SH4. Its just a repeat of what we know and I believe with the advanced GUI of SH5 we will have a remarkable subsim simulator with SH5 when it is all done.

But I don't understand what will be all done.
Surely the modders need another patch to fix more of the bugs.
Do they not?

[longam]

Originally Posted by Barso

But I don't understand what will be all done.
Surely the modders need another patch to fix more of the bugs.
Do they not?

One of the things the Devs introduced with this new release was a scripting method replacing the common text files. I don't understand it totally, but you can see the results with the TDW mods.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Bon-voyage Silent Hunter!

Personally, I thought that's been pretty obvious the last few months, and why earlier, i laughed when someone mentioned a "SH6".

[McBeck]

You cant just ignore what happens behind the scenes when you judge a person.-----i didn't judge ANYONE ! i judge only the final product which is ,in this case, the sh5 .i am pointing my words to Dan becuase it happens to be the leader manager of sh5 . i have nothing to say for the personality of Dan becuase i ,also like you, believe that Dan is a great guy !
Dan was NOT the producer or Project Manager, so you are really barking up the wrong tree here and that is my point.

I think you should consider that getting the fixes in place that you mention (which are very valid) is outside the influence of Dan.----are they?
YES. These things are not decided by team members, but management.

Can it be the case that Dan have already pointed out these errors?----do you believe that Dan asked these things to be corrected and it didn't happened?
Yes, that I believe, but thats just my guess.

Do you honestly think that its Dans choice to use DRM?----never said anything about drm.i ,personally, don't believe that this is a sh5's problem at all !
DRM is an example of what could have been pointed out by Dan as a member of team - thats how these things usually works.

The devs have used a lot of their spare time in the mods forums to help out - what does that tell you? Could it be that they care about the game?----no ,it doesn't show that they care...giving SOME 'tips' here and there (basically through pms?-i don't know) is not solving problems.and why ...if this is their job?for me, 'care' means to give me solutions ...polished ...solutions.
If they didnt care, they wouldnt have spent their free time in the mods forum. That they did - activly through posts etc, shows clearly that they DO care.

Could it be that its not their choice when to release a game and make the decision when its ready for release?----sure it is not their choice but still the final product has their sign on ! and where is your sign....there is your responsibility.
The responsebility end with the Project manager and producer. Do you really expect a programmer or game designer to have ANY direct influence?


The list goes on...
I think it takes a lot of guts to come here and be a part of these discussions and to admit to their part in the state of the game.----yes ,it takes... guts to admit things but what is after this? ok ,we admited our faults.... what's then ? ...nothing? wouldn't be more fair ,for the people that paid for it , to start correcting the admited faults?
To be able to correct, you first need the owner of the game (Ubisoft management) to accept your scope, budget and plans - a dev team, cant do anything without the management accept

I have working more than 5 years in a big IT company and know a great deal about how things like this works.
If the people who makes the decisions are not with you - you cant do anything...

My advice to you - meant in the best possible way - is to check you facts and logic. I know you are frustrated, but be carefull where you point your fingers...

[jwilliams]

The Dev team made the game, but do not own it.

I'm guessing it would be illegal for them to moddify the game code (the .exe, the hard coded part that modders cant fix) with out the say so from Ubi?