[Nirolak]

In case anyone was curious how big Ubisoft's team sizes were.

They're still hiring people for Watch_Dogs to note, so presumably that will go higher.

Q: Will the studio be working on its own original IP? Pauline Jacquey: Yes. We do parts of games, but it's very actually standard at Ubisoft now to do AAA games, like for the new PS4 console, you need teams of up to 600 guys so you can't do it at just one site. So there's organisation within Ubisoft to make sure that collaboration happens and works. So it's not like outsourcing, it's real co-development and collaboration and I think both sides learn a lot from working together. So I want this to be a very strong pillar of the studio, but yes, I want us to do our own games and I'm very interested in the evolution of the industry like free-to-play and digital and mobile. And that's something that I did already, in the past. Not very famous games, but still millions of players. So I don't know exactly which shape it could take, I've only been here for three months, but my intention is to have a very varied portfolio and collaboration will not just be what we do.

Q: And how do you manage resources to be able to work on all the different platforms, is that the same sort of thing? Pauline Jacquey: That's actually exactly my challenge right now, I have to hire 50 people to make sure that I cover all my needs and that's my biggest challenge today. We're looking for a very specific profile that's not easy to find anywhere in Ubisoft. Specialities are very hard to find, and it's hard to find everywhere. But for instance I just managed to have a team of ten guys in Barcelona that are going to work with us, so the international collaboration is happening at all levels.

We have a team of almost 90 guys working on Watch Dogs, so one third of the team is in the UK.

Q: Do you have to factor the challenges of a new console into your development costs? Pauline Jacquey: Totally. We actually started making simulations three years ago on next-gen because we knew that it would require probably a multiplication of data by two or four, meaning bigger teams. But it depends on the type of thing that you do, there are games that Ubisoft specialises in like open world action games with a lot of production value, and you do need a team of 400 to 600 people, that's a lot, and next-gen is increasing this. And then some systemic games you can probably afford to do a next-gen game with 100 people. Ubisoft are very generous with resources, making sure product quality is top notch, so it's got a big influence on budget. But then the outcome, the production revenue, should be much higher as well so it balances. It's just the risk is higher, so if we miss it once or twice the impact is big.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...studios-new-md

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

And you still can't find one goddamn guy to do a decent job writing the modern-day stuff in AC!?

[LiK]

hopefully most of them know how to look for bugs.

[The Grim Heaper]

hopefully most of them know how to look for bugs.

the watch dogs crew does, the game is about glitching and bugging technology

[Derrick01]

Might want to up it to 700 for AC so you can assign a studio to making the game fun.

[Sandfox]

Why is the Watch Dogs team less than half of what's needed for an AAA title?

[wingz]

hopefully most of them know how to look for bugs.

This is what scares me about Watch Dogs. It is an amazing game of what has been shown so far, but I remain skeptical because of the mass amount bugs that plagued AC3...

[Scum]

Bloody hell! D:

[shagg_187]

So that's $20 million a year average for Watch Dogs just for the employees.

[SneakyStephan]

Ubisoft going even further off the deep end.

NS2 was accomplished by 8 guys (+2 for community+marketing) and shits on anything ubisoft was ever involved in.

[clip]

They need that many people to cram as many unnecessary systems and mechanics as possible into their games.

[Sqorgar]

If you've ever had to sit through an Ubisoft credits sequence, this is not surprising. One of them, forget which one (AC:Revelations?), was almost 40 minutes long.

[Nirolak]

Why is the Watch Dogs team less than half of what's needed for an AAA title?

They're still hiring a lot of people for the game.

[LiquidMetal14]

I think these teams or number of people work on several projects. It's a little misleading to just say 600 people on one game. Perhaps the contracted work or back and forth between different units may attribute to that high number.

[Derrick01]

So that's $20 million a year average for Watch Dogs just for the employees.

And they've been making it for at least 3 years supposedly.

I would say there is some inefficiency going on there but that seems obvious.

[Nirolak]

I think these teams or number of people work on several projects. It's a little misleading to just say 600 people on one game. Perhaps the contracted work or back and forth between different units may attribute to that high number.

I added a bit more to that excerpt in the OP.

[SneakyStephan]

If you've ever had to sit through an Ubisoft credits sequence, this is not surprising. One of them, forget which one (AC:Revelations?), was almost 40 minutes long.

They probably had a team of 25 people working on the credit sequence for 6 months:p
Then 12 to pass it through QA
A team for animation
Then production and shipping.
150.000 dollars for a credit sequence get the reference?

[IcyStorm]

Ubisoft going even further off the deep end. NS2 was accomplished by 8 guys (+2 for community+marketing) and shits on anything ubisoft was ever involved in.

Yeah, but Natural Selection 2 took over 7 years to develop and is much smaller in scope than something like Assassin's Creed.

[Gahiggidy]

I wish Pikmin 3 had a team of 600 developers. :( Which might mean they'd have resources to include online play.

[Tractopoulpe]

Wow, let's hope Watch Dogs sales well, so.

[dummydecoy]

Pffft quantity over quality. I already expect Watch Dogs to run like shit, sub 30fps with screen tearing and all, on next-gen consoles. All UBI games I played ran like shit on PS3.

[ced]

Bubble is getting a little too big...

[Coolwhip]

Ubisoft are very generous with resources, making sure product quality is top notch, so it's got a big influence on budget. But then the outcome, the production revenue, should be much higher as well so it balances.

Much higher revenue on the new consoles which start at 0 install base? Risky indeed. And it seems like Ubi thinks the more people they throw at a project the more it will sell?

[shagg_187]

Ubisoft going even further off the deep end. NS2 was accomplished by 8 guys (+2 for community+marketing) and shits on anything ubisoft was ever involved in.

NS2 as in Natural Selection 2? 6+ years of development averaging $10,000 per employee? Yeah, good luck with that.

[Toki767]

I'm hopeful the other half of hires for Watch_Dogs will be QA but I really imagine the game being pretty buggy just because of the nature of the game.

[Nirolak]

Much higher revenue on the new consoles which start at 0 install base? Risky indeed. And it seems like Ubi thinks the more people they throw at a project the more it will sell?

Well to be fair that seemed to work for Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 3.

Not so much Driver though.

[nekomix]

AAA game production is going to be interesting to see in next-gen, I really hope they learned from their flaws with what happened since 2006...

[Mully]

The difference in team sizes between Ubisoft and other AAA studios like Bungie and DICE is fascinating.

[Biggzy]

Those Québécoise tax dollars at work.

[Estocolmo]

The credits for this game is going to be long.

[exmachina64]

Might want to up it to 700 for AC so you can assign a studio to making the game fun.

Brilliant, as always.

[iamvin22]

Bloody hell! D:

This is normal. The teams are based all over the world from China, Romania, US and so on. Perfectly normal.

[R1CHO]

That's a problem, and you can tell playing their games. Too hard to have a solid vision for a project with multiple enormous teams.

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Polyphony, take heed.

[shagg_187]

Polyphony, take heed.

Polyphony doesn't release two or more games every year.

The difference in team sizes between Ubisoft and other AAA studios like Bungie and DICE is fascinating.

Neither does Bungie and DICE.

[Tagg9]

Meanwhile, the Beyond Good and Evil 2 team only has 10 people.

[Hiltz]

It's insane how many people need to work on these big projects, and it only gets more complex when you're attempting to make these games cross-gen too.

[LiquidMetal14]

Thanks for expanding on the info in the OP.

I wonder if this means half the DVD will be filled with the video for the credits :P

[RibbedHero]

This is the equivalent of big budget summer Hollywood blockbuster, I don't see the big deal. There's still room for mid-sized and small development studios. There is demand for blockbuster, big budget games and their is demand for mid-sized games and indie games. It's a similar situation to Hollywood where an entire range of budgets are employed.

[kswiston]

The difference in team sizes between Ubisoft and other AAA studios like Bungie and DICE is fascinating.

Bungie makes a game every 3 years. Ubisoft pumps out yearly sequels for a lot of their big properties. They need 600 people to condense the development cycle. I'd actually like to see what each game works out to in total man hours.

[Seda]

I suppose if they are trying to rush out a AAA each year...

[SneakyStephan]

NS2 as in Natural Selection 2? 6+ years of development averaging $10,000 per employee? Yeah, good luck with that.

That's 48 people worth of salaries for a year in costs. Not 70 for however long ubisoft worked on watch dogs and definitely not 600.

[exmachina64]

AAA game production is going to be interesting to see in next-gen, I really hope they learned from their flaws with what happened since 2006...

Since Assassin's Creed 3 got up to 600 people, I imagine that next gen games will get up to 1200 people. Then we'll have profits of $60 million dollars on multibillion dollar projects.

[kaf]

Those Québécoise tax dollars at work.

Yup, it's largely this. Ubisoft opens studios in places where the government gives them a large tax break / credit. That is how they can afford to throw a lot of people onto a project.

[Meelow]

A huge amount of people doesn't always mean a good thing for a game, look at Epic Mickey 2 for example.

[Haunted]

And then some systemic games you can probably afford to do a next-gen game with 100 people

Making a game with only 100 people, is that even possible? Ubisoft, true masters of efficiency.

:bow

[sleepykyo]

Guess the AC3 guy wasn't as much of a dinosaur as he thought? Driving up those costs until until Ubisoft, EA and Activision are the only ones left.

[The Boat]

Sounds very sustainable.

[shagg_187]

That's 48 people worth of salaries for a year in costs. Not 70 for however long ubisoft worked on watch dogs and definitely not 600.

That's 5+ console/device release with massive marketing, localization, QA, Audio/Video Infrastructures, Massive single-player stories and chugging out a game a year.

Natural Selection 2, by comparison, is a multiplayer title that is Steam-only release, with them delayed/cancelling OS X, Linux, and Xbox releases.

If Konami's numbers are correct, it takes 20 people minimum to port a game to a system. With WiiU, PC, 360, PS3, PS4 and 720, that's 100 employees ensuring the game releases on the designation platform.

[GraveRobberX]

The difference in team sizes between Ubisoft and other AAA studios like Bungie and DICE is fascinating.

It shows in the product

Just cause you have a 600 man team working on titles doesn't automatically give you AAA status or make you oodles of cash, but then I just recently found out Ass Creed III sold 12,000,000 copies, so what the fuck do I know!

It is true to many cooks in the kitchen, shit stew will taste like shit, even with sprinkles of salt, sugar to enhance the flavor