IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/u...e-royale-working-with-ninte/1100-6461619/#nnn
What's your feeling on battle royale, and even chasing that trend? Titles that are coming out now like Battlefield 5 and Black Ops 4 have these battle royale modes, but they seem like they were added last minute. I'm sure they were thought out and properly implemented, but it seems very responsive. What's your take on that? Is that something that you want to do?
You know, I think it's like capture the flag at one point. Capture the flag became a very good gameplay [mode] and very appealing, very attractive, and so on. So here we have a new way to play, and it's good to make it available. It's not only the mode that you want to make available, it's the possibility to actually play with your friends, even with your friend you're still independent so it's a solo and multi experience at the same time. So there are plenty of discoveries that we make in watching those new modes, and you will see that we are learning a lot from what's happening, and what we like is there are also a lot of new players, younger players, that are coming in the industry because they love that experience.
From your perspective, do you think it's better for Ubisoft to build a new experience around battle royale or figure out a way to introduce that into existing franchises? A lot of battle royale players right now, because of Fortnite, are very young, and if you are like, "Alright, let's introduce it into For Honor, for example, or Wildlands," you're not hitting that audience because those games may not be age-appropriate for them.
No, that's right, it's more important to look at what do I learn from that experience, and how can I keep an experience that can give the same emotions than what this game is giving? It doesn't mean it's battle royale. It is something where many people are playing together. Each one has the possibility to perform differently. There are plenty of rules there that can be used in other games.
Is that something that you guys are actually exploring and looking at how to capitalize on that massive audience now?
Each time there's something new, all our teams are looking at what they can learn from it.
The next thing I wanted to talk about is your relationship with Nintendo, which is fascinating to me because Nintendo seems to be so comfortable with giving you their characters, and you're one of the few companies Nintendo seem to have taken a shine to. How have you managed to do that, and what does it mean to you?
It's a long-term relationship, so we've been working with them on all the machines they launched, and so from the beginning of the Wii to the Wii U, Switch, we were always there with them, and so we have been working closely while it was going out, when it was more difficult, so we are real partners that are happy to work together, and that helps a lot.
We like what they do also. We are big fans of what Mr. Miyamoto and his team is creating, so that helps the creators at Ubisoft to work with the Nintendo teams because they learn so much.
Very few companies can actually put, like, Star Fox, on their marketing, as with Starlink. Bringing Star Fox into Starlink, what was that discussion like? Was it really easy to get that onboard, and did it make sense?
It's never ... it's always ... you know, when you work with the brands of another publisher, it's never easy, because you really have to understand the spirit of it, you have to really bring something that can help that to continue to grow. So it's not easy, but as we know each other well, they are confident that we can really bring high quality experiences, so that helps.
Can we expect to see that relationship continue in the same way that it has resulted in stuff like Mario + Rabbids, where it's not just a character cameoing but full experiences built around Nintendo and its properties?
I can't say.
Basically I'm asking can we get Mario + Rabbids 2?
[Laughs] I can't give you an answer yet.
Last question, I'll have to switch gears quickly because there's one thing that I have to ask about: Can you provide an update on the future of Splinter Cell? Obviously you guys keep bringing back Sam Fisher, he keeps appearing in other projects. But there's now a space [in that genre] with Konami backing off Metal Gear Solid and Solid Snake. Can we expect Sam Fisher to return, can we expect the Splinter Cell franchise to come back soon?
So I will disappoint you because I don't have an answer to give you exactly, but each brand we have, and each character, we want them to live in the long-term, so one day you will see something, but I can't give you more details.
More at the link.
What's your feeling on battle royale, and even chasing that trend? Titles that are coming out now like Battlefield 5 and Black Ops 4 have these battle royale modes, but they seem like they were added last minute. I'm sure they were thought out and properly implemented, but it seems very responsive. What's your take on that? Is that something that you want to do?
You know, I think it's like capture the flag at one point. Capture the flag became a very good gameplay [mode] and very appealing, very attractive, and so on. So here we have a new way to play, and it's good to make it available. It's not only the mode that you want to make available, it's the possibility to actually play with your friends, even with your friend you're still independent so it's a solo and multi experience at the same time. So there are plenty of discoveries that we make in watching those new modes, and you will see that we are learning a lot from what's happening, and what we like is there are also a lot of new players, younger players, that are coming in the industry because they love that experience.
From your perspective, do you think it's better for Ubisoft to build a new experience around battle royale or figure out a way to introduce that into existing franchises? A lot of battle royale players right now, because of Fortnite, are very young, and if you are like, "Alright, let's introduce it into For Honor, for example, or Wildlands," you're not hitting that audience because those games may not be age-appropriate for them.
No, that's right, it's more important to look at what do I learn from that experience, and how can I keep an experience that can give the same emotions than what this game is giving? It doesn't mean it's battle royale. It is something where many people are playing together. Each one has the possibility to perform differently. There are plenty of rules there that can be used in other games.
Is that something that you guys are actually exploring and looking at how to capitalize on that massive audience now?
Each time there's something new, all our teams are looking at what they can learn from it.
The next thing I wanted to talk about is your relationship with Nintendo, which is fascinating to me because Nintendo seems to be so comfortable with giving you their characters, and you're one of the few companies Nintendo seem to have taken a shine to. How have you managed to do that, and what does it mean to you?
It's a long-term relationship, so we've been working with them on all the machines they launched, and so from the beginning of the Wii to the Wii U, Switch, we were always there with them, and so we have been working closely while it was going out, when it was more difficult, so we are real partners that are happy to work together, and that helps a lot.
We like what they do also. We are big fans of what Mr. Miyamoto and his team is creating, so that helps the creators at Ubisoft to work with the Nintendo teams because they learn so much.
Very few companies can actually put, like, Star Fox, on their marketing, as with Starlink. Bringing Star Fox into Starlink, what was that discussion like? Was it really easy to get that onboard, and did it make sense?
It's never ... it's always ... you know, when you work with the brands of another publisher, it's never easy, because you really have to understand the spirit of it, you have to really bring something that can help that to continue to grow. So it's not easy, but as we know each other well, they are confident that we can really bring high quality experiences, so that helps.
Can we expect to see that relationship continue in the same way that it has resulted in stuff like Mario + Rabbids, where it's not just a character cameoing but full experiences built around Nintendo and its properties?
I can't say.
Basically I'm asking can we get Mario + Rabbids 2?
[Laughs] I can't give you an answer yet.
Last question, I'll have to switch gears quickly because there's one thing that I have to ask about: Can you provide an update on the future of Splinter Cell? Obviously you guys keep bringing back Sam Fisher, he keeps appearing in other projects. But there's now a space [in that genre] with Konami backing off Metal Gear Solid and Solid Snake. Can we expect Sam Fisher to return, can we expect the Splinter Cell franchise to come back soon?
So I will disappoint you because I don't have an answer to give you exactly, but each brand we have, and each character, we want them to live in the long-term, so one day you will see something, but I can't give you more details.
More at the link.
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