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In such a competitive marketplace it’s important for a game to stand out from the crowd if it’s to achieve strong sales, but Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez doesn’t believe this is entirely down to strong review scores.
Speaking at the UBS Annual Global Media Conference (reported by Gamasutra), Martinez noted: “It’s not ratings that mean everything, but we think quality and innovation are the key.”
Martinez pointed out Ubisoft’s hugely successful Assassin’s Creed – sales have exceeded five million units – which launched with a lower than targeted review average.
“To be honest, when Assassin’s Creed launched and got 82 percent, we were desperate, and we thought we were going to die,” recalled Martinez.
In contrast, Prince of Persia Sands of Time launched to hugely positive reviews but failed to meet sales expectations.
“… we thought it was going to do great [but] it did two million, so we were kind of disappointed,” explained Martinez.
The latest entry in the Prince of Persia franchise currently has a Metacritic score of 87, a game Ubisoft believes can achieve sales of 2.5 to three million units.
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