Big thanks to Stumpokapow for translating this article. I'm giving a highlights version.
We had a separate thread about it, but it missed almost all of the details.
So, after having a conversation with Stump about what the intent of the statements made most likely were (as opposed to a 1:1 reading of the text), the general sentiment would be:
We had a separate thread about it, but it missed almost all of the details.
So, after having a conversation with Stump about what the intent of the statements made most likely were (as opposed to a 1:1 reading of the text), the general sentiment would be:
- By context, it's clear this interview is more about their open world games than their multiplayer games like Rainbow Six.
- Ubisoft would traditionally make open world games where they had a specific pre-laid narrative/cinematic experience in mind that the player would then go through. Think Assassin's Creed 2 where you're sent through a series of hub cities and hit the same plot points and set piece as everyone else, and even though you had options, your core experience would be pretty similar.
- In the future, they want to constrain you far less in their open world games. They want to make it so that their open worlds have a lot of activities to choose from and you have a lot more choice in terms of what you do and don't do. Similarly, they want to make sure their gameplay systems allow you a wide variety of choices in how you go about things.
- Given the open ended nature of the above idea, their games will have less narrative - or at least critical narrative structure - since they have to allow you to do what you want and have fun. Similarly, if they give you six approaches to a missions, it's harder to tie that all into an in-mission plot.
- However, they talk about emergent character relationships. During this segment, they basically imply that their games will be more about things like vignettes and area stories than the overarching narrative. Or, put another way, there will still be dialog and cutscenes in their games, but they'll be more localized to what you're doing currently.
- Ubisoft says this change in decision is driven by both their internal creative direction, but also market trends that favor this type of game design. As an example, he mentions that (basically) no one goes out of their way to share a video of a cutscene as opposed to their awesome mission solution or gameplay clip.
- They also noted that Ubisoft is working to make sure their open worlds feel as believable as possible. In another interview, a different Ubisoft executive talked about how they will send 40+ staff on a development team to live in the city and/or area they're recreating for six months so that they can really get a feel for it and do a ton of research about the city in order to better realize it.
- Ubisoft notes that the first game that will really showcase this new approach to open world game design is the next Assassin's Creed title.
- Please remember that the above is trying to interpret their strategy outlined here, and not a 1:1 Q&A reproduction. A more literal reading would basically be "We're putting less narrative in our games (especially the type present in Assassin's Creed 2), and instead focusing on player stories, believable worlds, and emergent character interaction. We want games with things players want to share, and to allow them to play their way. We're doing this because of both ourselves and market trends. See the next Assassin's Creed for the first major example of this."