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The end of a console cycle is not the time to release new IPs because they simply don’t sell, Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot has told Polygon.
“I think that what has happened is the transition has been very long,” Guillemot explained. “You know, in the industry, we were used to changing machines every five years. This time we are in the seventh year of the 360. We need new consoles and at the end of the cycle generally the market goes down because there are less new IPs, new properties, so that damaged the industry a little bit.
“I hope next time they will come more often.”
There’s a different mindset amongst gamers picking up new platforms, says Guillemot.
“Transitions are the best times, are the best ways, to make all of our creators take more risks and do different things,” he said. “When a console is out for a long time … you don’t take as much risks on totally new IPs because even if they are good, they don’t sell as well.”
“Everybody who is taking risks and innovating is welcome because there are lots of hardcore gamers and those guys want new things, where the mass market will be more interested in having the same experience and doesn’t want to take as much risks because it’s not aware as much of what is going to change its experience.
“So, the beginning of the machines is always a good time for innovation.”
Guillemot’s opinion on new IP echoes that of EA Labels president Frank Gibeau, who said “The time to launch an IP is at the front-end of the hardware cycle”.
Source: Polygon
