After undergoing major adjustments such as closing offices in Halifax and Stockholm and canceling 6 future projects including the remake of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", Ubisoft recently officially announced its new future development strategy and operating model. The company's core direction will focus on "open world adventure" and "native service-based games", and plans to increase investment in player-oriented generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Ubisoft clearly stated this strategy in its latest official press release: "The new operating model will further enhance the execution of the group's strategy, which is centered on open-world adventure and native service-based game experiences, and is supported by accelerated investments in generative AI for players."
Focusing on the open world sector is a natural fit for Ubisoft, which is what it is known for. However, betting on a service-based game is considered a high-risk bet. Although Ubisoft has repeatedly suffered setbacks in this field, and even bluntly stated that "the single-player game model is outdated," the company still firmly believes that service-based games represent the future, and regards generative AI as a major opportunity comparable to the 3D technology revolution of the year.
As part of this restructuring, Ubisoft has also established dedicated "creative workshops" for different game types. Among them, "Creative Workshop CH3" will be responsible for the service-based game operations of IPs such as "The Crew", "For Honor", "Heroes", "Blue Sea and Black Sails" and "Extreme Nation". In addition, even after canceling 6 projects, Ubisoft still has 4 new IPs under development, and the industry expects that they will include at least one service-based game.
What do you think of this? Do you think Ubisoft’s decision is reasonable? Welcome to discuss in the comment area.