Ubisoft Will Change Strategy to Focus on "High-End Free-to-Play" Games

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Ubisoft Will Change Strategy to Focus on "High-End Free-to-Play" Games

by Sam Aberdeen on 12 May, 2021

Ubisoft have been on a roll lately, releasing AAA titles like Immortals Fenyx Rising, Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion, with more big games to come. However, due to the explosion in popularity with free-to-play models dominating the market - from Call of Duty: Warzone to Apex Legends - it looks like Ubisoft wants to shift their focus to that corner of the industry, as they announced that they will change strategies to focus on "high-end free-to-play" titles in the future.

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During an earnings call on Tuesday (reported by Video Games Chronicle), Ubisoft provided an updated business strategy that seemingly sees the company shifting their focus from releasing 3-4 premium AAA games a year and instead, want to release high-end free-to-play games based on their popular franchises. "In line with the evolution of our high-quality line-up that is increasingly diverse, we are moving on from our prior comment regarding releasing 3-4 premium AAAs per year," Ubisoft’s chief financial officer Frederick Duguet said.

"It is indeed no longer a proper indication of our value creation dynamics. For example, our expectation for Just Dance and Riders Republic are consistent with some of the industry’s AAA performers," he continued. "Additionally, we are building high-end free-to-play games to be trending towards AAA ambitions over the long-term. This is purely a financial communication evolution and doesn’t change the fact that we continue to expect a high cadence of content delivery including powerful premium and free-to-play new releases."

While it seems like Ubisoft won't necessarily ditch premium AAA development altogether, it's clear that they have bigger aspirations for the free-to-play model. Ubisoft attempted to break into the market with Hyper Scape, a sci-fi battle royale that unfortunately didn't get the traction they might've expected as the game's player base had significantly dwindled since release. However, we'll just have to wait and see how they handle the new focus going forward, especially if they plan on using their existing franchises as a starting point - much like Activision did with Call of Duty: Warzone, and Respawn Entertainment accomplished with the Titanfall-shared universe of Apex Legends.

Sam Aberdeen

Writer. Enthusiast of all things geek. Legend has it he completed Final Fantasy VII without a memory card.

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There are 3 comments

Llama_Duck

@Tea Agreed. but if the newer games, like AssCreed and those, get the same FTP Bloat like what they have in Ragnarock, it could cause problems. if focus is on FTP side, less devs on AAA and they cut down game sizes to push DLC and Season Passes. I just see "game ending locked behind DLC Season Pass"

Tea

As long as we still get key AAA single player experiences Im okay with this - Just being forced to download multiplayer content when you are only planning to play the single player content suck - Yes I'm looking at you COD / Activision

Llama_Duck

TBH we all knew this was on its way.
the thing we are going to see now if how FTP games are added to replace the normal AAA games. Think FTP open world Far Cry ALA Destiny 2 Light Edition with DLC/Story content.

One thing, Self publishing and the rise of AAA Indies or a new design/field where we are going to see AAA games move to the Indie scene.

Problem is FTP is so bloated with billions of buttons to push "pay us money" button. Long live indies and High quality Indies!

Yesterday, we reported that Quantic Labs – an external quality assurance company that was responsible...

29-06-22 Read more

Scottie

01 July at 11:09

Will do!

eYss

01 July at 11:08

Have a look at the Gears of War 4, Mafia III, Halo 5 and Far Cry 4 as well.

01 July at 11:05

Damn this is a bargain Nexus team. I weighed it at 2.5kg

https://nexushub.co.za/product/mass-effect-andromeda-collectors-edition-guide-with-tempest-crew-patch-hc-pid221493.html

01 July at 11:04

Mine 18:00 to 22:00, TF I watch my TV shows on a tablet.

01 July at 10:59

I have nice load shedding from 16:00 to 20:00... the best time

Morning phreak

phreak

01 July at 10:55

morning

30 June at 13:48

Read it and weep

https://twitter.com/Eskom_SA/status/1542450574548996096?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

30 June at 13:47

LOL thinhs worse after Govt got involved. Pitiful.

Due to the continued unlawful strike Stage 6 loadshedding will be implemented at 14:00 until
midnight. Stage 6 will again be implemented from 05:00 until midnight on Friday.

29 June at 16:45

Stage 6 tonight people despite the clownish intervention of the SA Govt. But good news only Stage 4 planned for tomorrow.

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