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[cormack12]

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/as...nly-one-making-any-money-on-that-transaction/

I had the chance to sit down with Alex Hutchinson, a Ubisoft veteran who directed Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 4, and he shared his unfiltered insights as someone who left the studio in 2017 months before the release of Origins.

"At the time there was a lot of pressure inside Ubisoft to 'keep the disc in the tray' to essentially try to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction," Hutchinson said. "Designers were being asked to add play time which seemed like the most pro gamer solution to the problem in a franchise where multiplayer had never really worked."

[....] the cheapest and most effective way to bulk it out was to add RPG elements."

To be clear, because I don't want to infer too much, Hutchinson never explicitly said this is the sole reason why Ubisoft took the Assassin's Creed series in a different direction [...]

 

[Solarstrike]

Good. Bring on the content, Shadows is excellent and as long as the content is interesting, people will buy. Can't wait for AC: Black Flag remake (if that's still a thing?) Unless, the Animus is taking us to the land of the ancient Mayan's next?

 

[Xbox 360 slim]

Ubisoft needs to be cleaned inside out. Their idea of content is collect 50 hawks, clean 40 bandit camps. Boring asf.

 

[Aion002]

It's a pity that the multiplayer mode of AC Brotherhood and Revelations wasn't popular enough. I enjoyed it a lot.

 

[Gonzito]

Ubisoft needs to be cleaned inside out. Their idea of content is collect 50 hawks, clean 40 bandit camps. Boring asf.

In Shadows there is literally a sidequest that you need to kill 100 bandits lol. Its pathetic

 

[Connificent]

 

[Bond007]

Love the hideout building features. That kept me attached after completing the game.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Stuff like this is not an issue when it's optional content, but all big AC games since Origins were too long if you just wanted to do the main story. It's not good news if the whole game is built around making you stay with it whether you like it or not.

 

[Scrawnton]

Jokes on them, I just don't buy em til they're $15.

 

[Solarstrike]

Imagine if an AC game had building elements (not as grind-y though) like Dune: Awakening or Return to Moria which btw, is on sale right now on Steam, get a copy you cheap futksx. Now I'm talking where you actually have to mine, harvest, grow, cut down, build tools and facilities to make stuff. That's what brings people in along with interesting stories and gameplay.

 

[SJRB]

Good. Bring on the content, Shadows is excellent and as long as the content is interesting, people will buy. Can't wait for AC: Black Flag remake (if that's still a thing?) Unless, the Animus is taking us to the land of the ancient Mayan's next?

What part of Shadow's content is excellent and interesting?

 

[Solarstrike]

What part of Shadow's content is excellent and interesting?

 

[Deerock71]

Assassin's Creed:

 

[Rush2112]

Add playtime but not by making the game better. Just add more shit to do, right?

 

[Fake]

What next to Assassin Creed?

Uga Buga?

 

[archangelmorph]

Ubisoft needs to be cleaned inside out. Their idea of content is collect 50 hawks, clean 40 bandit camps. Boring asf.

Sure but if the OP account is true, then it was either that or pivot towards abandoning SP games and just make MP slop (in 2017 contextually).

Would you have preferred that instead?

 

[archangelmorph]

What next to Assassin Creed?

Uga Buga?

Care to elaborate?

 

[Punished Miku]

Alternate headline:

Physical Media, Used Games Directly Leading to Worse Game Design

I blame Gamepass.

 

[Spukc]

Yes make them even longer and more boring

Fucking die already ubisheit

 

[Punished Miku]

Yes make them even longer and more boring

Fucking die already ubisheit

Don't forget it has to be ultra safe, accessible, and not a new IP because retail.

 

[Fake]

Care to elaborate?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Good. Bring on the content, Shadows is excellent and as long as the content is interesting, people will buy. Can't wait for AC: Black Flag remake (if that's still a thing?) Unless, the Animus is taking us to the land of the ancient Mayan's next?

Why remake the game? The OG is a perfectly fine game to play today.

 

[ElFenomeno]

It started in AC2. Remember codex pages, feathers and chests? Ignored all of that shit.

 

[Durin]

If that's true...definitely sucks.

I've been tired of the padding and scope bloat since Odyssey, and all it did was make me not finish the game...then just stop buying any of the new ones.

 

[Alebrije]

Thats the reason Valhalla is an endless Game, well almost...

I got.bored and never ended it, Bet You can finish both Origins and Odyssey before You end Valhalla.

 

[hussar16]

and now everythong is near digital so there is no need for that

 

[Sethbacca]

Thats the reason Valhalla is an endless Game, well almost...

I got.bored and never ended it, Bet You can finish both Origins and Odyssey before You end Valhalla.

Yeah, I got about 40 hours into both and they're both still sitting unfinished. The worlds were cool and very explorable, but the actual quests and busy work were meh.

 

[AJUMP23]

Having a lot of content is not a bad thing. It does help if it is meaningful. But what I may not engage with, some one else may love.

In valhalla I ended up having a BUG in the Valhalla section that made me unable to finish those. Really turned me off of a lot of UBI games.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Unless, the Animus is taking us to the land of the ancient Mayan's next?

ac hexe is next.

 

[Nydius]

Good. Bring on the content, Shadows is excellent and as long as the content is interesting, people will buy.

Shadows could have been cut down by a third, possibly even half, and still been excellent and long enough to "delay" resale. It's patently obvious a lot of the game is designed to be bloat, especially the seasons system where, despite having a "fast forward" button, still requires you to spend the required amount of time per season before you can use said button. Then they tie specific quests and specific requirements to seasons.

 

[bender]

Kind of weird when their release schedule proximity to Black Friday always had their newest release at 50%+ off after only a month or two.

 

[ComputerBlue]

It's a pity that the multiplayer mode of AC Brotherhood and Revelations wasn't popular enough. I enjoyed it a lot.

It was so unique, one of my favourite multiplayer games of all time.

 

[Sephimoth]

Ubisoft 'bulked out' Assassin's Creed games to delay people reselling

I bulked out my wallet by not buying them because they're too big

 

[Braag]

Yeah, From what I played Odyssey and Valhalla were notorious with trying to desperately pad the game out. I could practically feel the devs desperation to want to keep me playing the game with the most BS ways possible. Valhalla was way too long for its own good.
Odyssey had a similar problem but also made the enemies into insufferable dmg sponged the more you leveled.

 

[ungalo]

Like it's exclusive to Ubisoft games. People won't accept that a lot of games they praised these last few years are exactly the same. The only way they are smart is by tricking the player into mindless "engagement" with shitty RPG mechanics and "character progression" based gameplay, not providing any meaningful game-design. I'm not going to name those games because it's not the topic but it feels hypocritical to make it looks like it's not one of the most common idea shared in our industry, why talk about it like it's some huge news of what's going on internally ?

 

[Sooner]

Good. Bring on the content

This milk shake is great, but it's not big enough. Let's put it in a 7-11 Big Gulp and fill the rest to the top with water. So much extra value!

 

[Roman Empire]

Keep the strategy. It clearly it's working going by sales numbers... Err, I mean engagement numbers.

 

[Chuck Berry]

And I'm sure "bulking out" the experience "bulked" out the trade ins.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Assassin's Creed origin is by far my most favorite assassin Creed game I don't care why they originally added RPG elements. that made the series something I actually enjoyed, for once

 

[awwr999999]

"At the time there was a lot of pressure inside Ubisoft to 'keep the disc in the tray' to essentially try to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction," Hutchinson said. "Designers were being asked to add play time which seemed like the most pro gamer solution to the problem in a franchise where multiplayer had never really worked."

It goes much further. The situation where games ship unfinished and keep getting updated is designed to do the exact same thing.
The selling price of video games hasn't kept up with inflation has gone down since PS1 ($50 in '94 is worth $108 today).
At the same time, conventional physical media being resellable has been killing studio profits while games have been getting more expensive to make and taking longer to make.

 

[Loomy]

Ubisoft needs to be cleaned inside out. Their idea of content is collect 50 hawks, clean 40 bandit camps. Boring asf.

Good news!

They started a new entity to manage all their most prized IPs and brought in some new blood to run that new entity!

/s

 

[ReBurn]

They were late to the game. I was running around collecting hidden packages in GTA III before Assassin's Creed was a glimmer in Jade Raymond's eye.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

This reminds me of how they used to make the North American versions of games on NES really hard to discourage people renting the game and finishing it in a weekend

 

[Solarstrike]

Assassin's Creed origin is by far my most favorite assassin Creed game I don't care why they originally added RPG elements. that made the series something I actually enjoyed, for once

Same. Loved every moment of that one. One of the very few video games, other than Skyrim and Dune: Awakening (currently) that darn near completely immmersed me. I 100% it on the PS4 Pro. I've said it before but that initial quest'ing (Quest Mode and not Exploration Mode) up to and towards the trip to Alexandria was incredible. The amount of details, the interesting landscape, learning some of the history of the ancient Egyptian culture, exploring and even sliding down! the great Pyramids. The "crocodile city". Just a brilliant game.

 

[diffusionx]

Those old AC games st

Shadows could have been cut down by a third, possibly even half, and still been excellent and long enough to "delay" resale. It's patently obvious a lot of the game is designed to be bloat, especially the seasons system where, despite having a "fast forward" button, still requires you to spend the required amount of time per season before you can use said button. Then they tie specific quests and specific requirements to seasons.

they don't have to worry about resales anymore, most game purchasesa re digital.

Now they make these games longer because they are trying to turn them into live-service type games that people play for a long time with lots of content. See what they did for Valhalla which was hugely successful.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

in a franchise where multiplayer had never really worked.

Only one of the most unique and enjoyable multiplayer implementations of the last decade, but ok.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The selling price of video games hasn't kept up with inflation has gone down since PS1 ($50 in '94 is worth $108 today).

It's a good thing then companies found numerous other revenue sources and are recording record profits!

 

[Fake]

Why remake the game? The OG is a perfectly fine game to play today.

They want to remake probably to change things on the game they don't like.


A proper remaster would be miles better.

 

[SenkiDala]

Source: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/as...nly-one-making-any-money-on-that-transaction/

I had the chance to sit down with Alex Hutchinson, a Ubisoft veteran who directed Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 4, and he shared his unfiltered insights as someone who left the studio in 2017 months before the release of Origins.

"At the time there was a lot of pressure inside Ubisoft to 'keep the disc in the tray' to essentially try to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction," Hutchinson said. "Designers were being asked to add play time which seemed like the most pro gamer solution to the problem in a franchise where multiplayer had never really worked."

[....] the cheapest and most effective way to bulk it out was to add RPG elements."

To be clear, because I don't want to infer too much, Hutchinson never explicitly said this is the sole reason why Ubisoft took the Assassin's Creed series in a different direction [...]

Sounded obvious but now it's official. What a scam.

 

[Sybrix]

Yeah, it really made the games so good with all that bloat.............