Ubisoft CEO: "We Have Been Penalized by the Lack of New Consoles"

Ubisoft's head honcho can't wait for a new round of hardware.

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Complex Original

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 Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot really wants to make games for next-gen consoles. In an interview with Gamasutra, Guillemot said he feels that video games, as a medium, need more powerful hardware in order to keep growing: He's gone so far as to say that being forced to make games on the same machines for the past six years is leading to creatively stagnant game design.

"We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market," Guillemot explained. "I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity."

Essentially, Guillemot argues that launching games unsupported by a recognizable game franchise is less financially viable as a console gets older, which is why we've been seeing so many series going into their third and fourth iterations.

"Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds -- and they are really going after what's best." In contrast, toward the end of an established console generation... They want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

Ubisoft declared their unwillingness to wait for next-gen consoles at E3 2012 when they revealed what may or may not have been the first next-gen (PS4 and/or Xbox 3) game, technology-centric open-world thriller Watch Dogs.

Ubisoft has been prone to supporting new platforms early: Most recently, the publisher prepared a few games for the launch of the PlayStation Vita, including Lumines: Electronic Symphony and Rayman Origins. The publisher is working on an original IP for the Wii U, Zombii U, and bringing a few sequels - Just Dance 4, Rayman Legends, Assassin's Creed III - to the upcoming platform.

[Via Gamasutra]

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