The following musings are those of the writer, do not reflect oprainfall as a whole, and is meant as a means to open a dialog. It is also an open letter to the CEO of Ubisoft Entertainment.
Dear Yves Guillemot,
I… something… you… right now.
Damn, this isn’t working. I had so much hate before. Now, I’m just… annoyed.
To be honest, Mr. Guillemot, I was angry with you before. It wasn’t the Rayman Legends incident, with delaying the game for other consoles. You run a business that publishes games on tech from other companies. You need to look after Ubisoft’s best interests. And I’m sure the bankruptcy of THQ had you taking a step back and re-evaluating whether you should make games exclusively for one console. I wasn’t mad at you for that; just disappointed.
What I was mad at you for was the contradictory nature of the decision. Your company decided to take a game and delay it so that you could release it on all consoles. That’s dandy and all, but where was it for other games, I thought to myself. And I wasn’t the only one.
But then, you (as in Ubisoft) come out and turn the tides somewhat in your favor. Watch Dogs, one of this year’s most anticipated games, was revealed to be releasing on all home consoles, including the brand new PS4 and Nintendo’s Wii U. That, Mr. Guillemot, was… merely a step in the right direction.
You see, you set a precedent for the future of your company when you delayed Rayman Legends so that it can be multiplatform. You basically came out and said ‘I want as many gamers as possible to have a chance to play my games.’ In all seriousness, it is a good business move. You have to meet a certain number to make a profit and having a game on all platforms is the best way to achieve that. I understand that.
But there is something missing from this for it to be true. That would be releasing ALL of your games on all consoles. I’m sure you would agree that turn-about is fair play. That’s probably why you’re publishing Watch Dogs on all platforms now and why Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be multiplatform as well. But it is only the start of repairing the damage.
There is only one true way to fix the problem: release all of your games on every platform, including the Wii U. If that means that South Park: The Stick of Truth is delayed again, if that means that shooter/Tom Clancy fans get angry over having to wait a bit longer for Rainbow 6: Patriots and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, then so be it. This is the only way to make it right.
After all, you do want every gamer to have a chance to play your games. Right?
Sincerely,
Jeff Neuenschwander, co-Editorial Head of OperationRainfall.com and fan of Ubisoft games.
