Being asked to sign new contracts with something like an atypical non-compete clause without a considerable benefit (higher salary being one) will send people running.
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Bloomberg: Ubisoft Wields Threat of Talent Exodus to Thwart Hostile Vivendi
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
He's trying to find excuses. let him be.
I mean...there is a lot of criticism you can lob at Ubi for sure but copy and pasting their worlds is not one of them.
One of the things people actually do enjoy about the Assassins creed games is how much detail they put into their real world cities, and The Division has the most realized New York of any other game I have ever played.
I like more of Ubis output then many Gaffers but even if I didn't I could still recognize how much effort they put into creating detailed worlds for their games.
Exploratory
Banned
If you can't appreciate the attention to detail in the cities of The Division or Assassins Creed I really don't know what to tell you. The Division especially it's ridiculous how accurate it is.
Trail Guide
Member
So what would Vivendi do if they took over? Just churn out yearly sequels, ton's of DLC/season pass extras, and abandon any small projects like "Valiant Hearts"?
The article mentions it being run by an Iron fist so I get the impression it would be to get as much cash as possible while running Ubisoft's franchises into the ground.
The article mentions it being run by an Iron fist so I get the impression it would be to get as much cash as possible while running Ubisoft's franchises into the ground.
Lmao
Is Vivendi even seen as a talent threat? They seemed relatively hands off in the later years of owning Activision Blizzard outside of the time they tried to pump them with debt.
They sold their Ubisoft stake a while ago.
They sold their Ubisoft stake a while ago.
That would really suck as Ubi finally came to the realization that they needed to ease up on yearly installments and just cycle through them every few years while giving games more long-term post release support.
ChoklitCow
Member
God I need to find a way to work in this industry.
torre_avenue
Banned
I should have expanded more on that last sentence, but yeah, their really creative games, the ones mentioned above, haven't exactly been blockbusters. If Ubi became a subsidiary of Vivendi, the fact they'd be beholden to shareholders and executives, both likely to focus more on games as potential cash cows rather than games as innovative and artsy, would mean less and less original IP coming out from them. With rising development costs, Ubisoft would have to churn out safer and safer AAA games just to avoid facing the wrath of Vivendi's execs concerned about under-performance.
OmegaDL50
Member
Look what Vivendi did to Blizzard North.
It took Activision to put out 8 Billion dollars of their own money to buy themselves away from Vivendi's control.
A Vivendi owned Ubisoft would more or less put an expiration date on smaller studios like Nadeo (Trackmania), RedLynx (Trials) or SunFlowers (Anno)
Basically Vivendi would push for heavy AAA only projects and small / mid-tier budget projects would largely be ignored.
Stuff like Child of Light or Valiant Hearts probably wouldn't happen under a Vivendi controlled Ubisoft.
As much people love to criticize Ubisoft as evidence in this thread alone. The reality of what Vivendi could potentially do is far harsher then the supposed detractors realize.
Purple Cheeto
Member
The thought of a talent exodus at Ubisoft is weird to me. Most of their games, while creative, are made by 100s if not 1000s of cogs in the game development equivalent of a factory. They are easily the most corporate game development company in terms of studio structure in the industry.
Vivendi had control of Blizzard for the longest time (before it was merged with Activision) and also held a significant interest in Activision-Blizzard without doing either of those companies undue harm.
Perhaps Guillemot is fear-mongering a bit because his job will be less secure after a takeover?
Perhaps Guillemot is fear-mongering a bit because his job will be less secure after a takeover?
Golgo 13
The Man With The Golden Dong
Ubisoft needs to bring out the "big guns" in terms of strategies to try to prevent a takeover, and this is definitely a credible threat.
Regardless of what people say, I'd much rather have a big player like Ubisoft in the game how they are now than with a takeover from a non-gaming company who's known to put far less emphasis on creative talent.
Regardless of what people say, I'd much rather have a big player like Ubisoft in the game how they are now than with a takeover from a non-gaming company who's known to put far less emphasis on creative talent.
Agent Icebeezy
Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
UBI is my favorite developer. Whatever happens, I just want the talent to stay.
They killed Sierra, they killed Blizzard north (but granted, the only reason they bought Blizzard in the first place was because Blizzard was burning through money to make WoW and had to sell itself up in order to finish it) and a number of smaller, sattelite studios when they own "Activision-Blizzard".
There's a reason why Kotick wanted out from under Vivendi's rule, it sucks
Mass_Pincup
Banned
Vivendi has been meddling in Canal+ (one of the most popular french TV channel) programming for a while and fired a third of its key employees.
SmartWaffles
Member
To give them some credit, Ubisoft open worlds are more often than not, have really great attention to detail.
Stiler
Member
This is freaking HILARIOUS considering what they did to Patrice (the lead guy behind Pop: SOT and AC).
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/07/20/life-after-ubisoft-again.aspx
Ubisoft doesn't give two craps about "creative" freedom, they care about making money.
Why do you think all of their games are stuck following their same formula over and over and over? AC, Far Cry, Watch dogs, all end up playing "the same" basically with the super repetitive copy + paste game design.
Aside from Valiant Hearts I can't remember the last Ubisoft game I played that didn't feel like I already played the game before or it didn't get old quick.
Even the division (which is better than most games they've put out the past few years) gets quite repetitive with it's side content especially and the oh so usual "collect-a-thon" map.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/07/20/life-after-ubisoft-again.aspx
Ubisoft doesn't give two craps about "creative" freedom, they care about making money.
Why do you think all of their games are stuck following their same formula over and over and over? AC, Far Cry, Watch dogs, all end up playing "the same" basically with the super repetitive copy + paste game design.
Aside from Valiant Hearts I can't remember the last Ubisoft game I played that didn't feel like I already played the game before or it didn't get old quick.
Even the division (which is better than most games they've put out the past few years) gets quite repetitive with it's side content especially and the oh so usual "collect-a-thon" map.
blame space
Banned
vivendi stay away from Ubisoft nobody wants you here
Nobody wants them anywhere.
RadicalVelocity
Member
Nasty situation
If not for the collateral damage, I'd celebrate the karmic justice Yves is facing here, though. I'm not as massive a fan of Patrice as many, but after the douchebagery involved there...
If not for the collateral damage, I'd celebrate the karmic justice Yves is facing here, though. I'm not as massive a fan of Patrice as many, but after the douchebagery involved there...
I will admit, The Division definitely manages to capture the feel of Manhattan under apocalyptic terms quite well. Times Square particularly stands out.
What makes him think vivendi cares about quality?
Uhm....they almost bankrupted and cannibalized activision to pay off debts but activision managed to come up with enough money to escape
Uhm....they almost bankrupted and cannibalized activision to pay off debts but activision managed to come up with enough money to escape
Auto-Reply
Member
Didn't Ubi announce to heavily focus on the online multiplayer Destiny formula for all of their future games?
I don't even feel bad for saying that I would welcome Vivendi buying Ubisoft in that case, maybe that would change their focus to something that I'm interested in again.
I don't even feel bad for saying that I would welcome Vivendi buying Ubisoft in that case, maybe that would change their focus to something that I'm interested in again.
Auto-Reply
Member
Well, I certainly interpret it that way according to the statements made. Watch it to be the main aspects of their future games, be it Assassins Creed or Watch Dogs and even take priority.
They'll apply it where it makes sense, not everywhere stupidly (because contrary to popular belief, Ubisoft isn't a company run by idiots).
LIES!
Cmon now, please research that period more thoroughly. They did plenty harm. Bobby Freaking Kotick even wanted to get away from them.
Bobby Kotick...
theSlacker
Member
This is exactly what I was thinking about when I read this.
KojiKnight
Member
Why is Vivendi interested in ubisoft? They let Activision-Blizzard go, and I just don't get why they'd want back in and with ubisoft...
You know the period of time where Activision/Blizzard was literally just CoD, guitar hero and Wow?
That was Vivendi using their profits to show up Vivendi's failing buisness elsewhere.
Its no surprise that after they got out of the shadow of Vivendi, Blizzard has exploded in doing multiple different projects.
RedAssedApe
Banned
as long as they keep making just dance games
jk...kinda
Vinterbird
Member
There's a difference between the quality of the product, and the creativity in creating the worlds wherein the games take place.
For this entire discussion to work, we need to focus on what is said in the article, creativity in creating worlds, and not just slam Ubisoft because they found a design formula that resonates with their audience and something the hardcore community hates.
Hate the games all you want, but Ubisoft takes a lot of chances with the worlds wherein they place their games.
Maintenance
Member
What? Bioware is just a shell these days, the main guys behind the classics are long gone.
GhostTrick
Banned
It's not like Bolloré cares about talent exodus or loss in quality or popularity. Canal+ was a good exemple of that.
Come on, that's not really fair. You're simply talking about the few "big" AAA games they've released. Ubi has published so many different, unique games over the past few years that have nothing to do with open worlds.
Darkly Tranquil
Banned
So if Vivendi takes over, the talent will leave Ubisoft?
I'm unclear what the downside is.
I'm unclear what the downside is.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
Assassins Creed is the epitome of stagnant game design. Mario games are more creatively diverse than their big releases.
legacyzero
Banned
Kicking and screaming.
I for one think this might be good for Ubi.
I for one think this might be good for Ubi.