Assassins Creed Pirates Aiming For Conservative Sales Targets

[Karloff]

Assassins Creed Pirates Aiming For Conservative Sales Targets

Ubisoft doesn't want to oversell its Black Flag, but it's expecting great things from next gen.

Ubisoft has had a pretty good 2012, thanks in no small part to its core gaming segment, where sales were up 60%, to €928 million euro ($1.1 billion). Assassin's Creed 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10015-Assassins-Creed-III-Review] was a significant part of that sales bump, moving 12.5 million units, both digital and boxed. Looking to the future, Ubisoft has every hope for success for its next entrant in the franchise, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, but doesn't want to oversell its latest title, so it's aiming for "more conservative [sales] targets," according to an investor call. Ubisoft thinks, at least right now, that Black Flag may not sell quite as well as Assassin's Creed 3.

Ubisoft certainly doesn't think Black Flag [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10216-Assassins-Creed-IV-Black-Flag-Sets-Sail-for-the-Caribbean] will do poorly. "When we start the year we try to give something that we believe is reasonable [while] still trying to be ambitious," says Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot. "We are actually pushing to achieve more than last year," he added. Though Ubisoft is pitching its targets low, it wasn't prepared to give precise sales prediction targets just yet.

Ubisoft's very bullish on next gen consoles - phrases like "mind blowing" and "unprecedented sense of immersion" were used during the investor call - and thinks it is perfectly positioned to make hay when the next console generation shines. "We have the means to master the three key features," says Guillemot, being high quality, regular releases, with integration of social features, features which Ubisoft knows will become increasingly important in the next generation. There was even a hint of a future Ubisoft reveal; Guillemot mentioned a hitherto unannounced new brand and an unannounced franchise due in the current financial year. But as for what those might be, you'll just have to be patient; no doubt Ubisoft has a presentation prepared for a future date [http://www.e3expo.com/].

Source: Ubisoft Investor Call [http://www.media-server.com/m/p/ibq62xpp]


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[TiberiusEsuriens]

Even though Ubisoft has been in the bad light the last few weeks, it is nice to see they are trying to be rational with sales figures.

Easy bet is they looked at SquareEnix and its Tomb Raider fiasco and said "We don't want to be those guys." Whether 'more conservative' than 12.5mil means 8mil or 4mil will be interesting to hear, and could set a [hopefully] positive precedent for other studios.

Black Flag seems to be reusing a modified AC3 engine (removing area loads to make one big open world) means they can budget lower and still make a decent profit.

 

[Carrots_macduff]

Its good to see someone at such a high level of the industry who has realistic expectations. Strange as it may seem, at this point its hard to imagine an executive from one of these AAA developer/publishers saying "you know, 12 millions copies is good enough for us"

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Well, given that you're making Assassin's Creed games yearly now, I have no doubt that you'll get those figures just from the mediocrity of these games being made in such a short time.

Although, if you want to "do it right", here's my approach:

1. Take years to make this game, using a much smaller team. People are expecting a deeper and more coherent game more than a shallow mix of casual-esque games that was AC3.

2. Make it more complex. Some people are looking for gameplay depth, and if the same result always comes from the same action, then it's going to get quite boring and repetitive. Enemies that actually use tactics means that the assassin should, in most cases, just run - He's one man that's eventually going to get mobbed and die.

3.A good, coherent, sensible story - I laughed at the end of Revelations. How was THAT considered a "good" story choice?

Sure, these choices will scare away some people, but I think it's a bold choice - A game that's not afraid to attract only a certain kind of people is more of what we need and can create a better range of expectations.

 

[bug_of_war]

Well, given that you're making Assassin's Creed games yearly now, I have no doubt that you'll get those figures just from the mediocrity of these games being made in such a short time.

Although, if you want to "do it right", here's my approach:

1. Take years to make this game, using a much smaller team. People are expecting a deeper and more coherent game more than a shallow mix of casual-esque games that was AC3.

If we're to assume that what the lead writer says here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTXMrZC_ZRg
And, going off the idea that they're using the same engine as Assassins Creed 3 (which was reported to have been in development right after AC2) then AC4 looks to be having roughly 2 1/2 years of development. While it's not a long time to develop a game, it's certainly enough time for a large group of developers, all focusing on different aspects of the game, to make a good story.

2. Make it more complex. Some people are looking for gameplay depth, and if the same result always comes from the same action, then it's going to get quite boring and repetitive. Enemies that actually use tactics means that the assassin should, in most cases, just run - He's one man that's eventually going to get mobbed and die.

I agree with most of this. The whole, "right trigger (/whatever R button on PS3) to run, climb, jump etc." was a terrible idea. While it worked mostly for the wilderness sections, it was terrible in Boston and New York as I kept accidently running into crap that was just tall enough for Connor to decide, "I'mma jump on this". That being said, the combat was improved in AC3, it wasn't like what you were asking for in the slightest, but it did make me feel like a warrior, which is what the devs said Connor was going to be. As for the, "you should fall eventually idea" I think you should see how long you last just running around with level 3 notoriety. Last time I checked I lasted 15 minutes before I just died due to half the bastards shooting me while the other half were the green suited dudes whom just dominate you if you're not careful.

Sure, these choices will scare away some people, but I think it's a bold choice - A game that's not afraid to attract only a certain kind of people is more of what we need and can create a better range of expectations.

I think more people are just hoping the game gets back to actual Assassinations rather than new choices/change in pace or whatever. Most of the complaints I have seen (on this website and many others) seems to be stemming from the fact that out of the 5 (6 if you count the naval mission) Templars you kill, only 2 of them are actually assassinated, and even then you are guided down a strict path.

 

[Slycne]

And yet they've got 7 development studios working on that one game. If sales figures are so conservative, why spend so much on manpower?

Well keep in mind that conservative is relative. A "conservative" number of units for Assassin's Creed is millions more than most franchises. Heck, if they merely budgeted to make a profit on only 1/2 of Assassin's Creed 3 sales that would still be moving 6+ million. And saying your pirate themed sequel will only sell half as well as your previous entry is certainly setting the bar low.

 

[Kargathia]

I think more people are just hoping the game gets back to actual Assassinations rather than new choices/change in pace or whatever. Most of the complaints I have seen (on this website and many others) seems to be stemming from the fact that out of the 5 (6 if you count the naval mission) Templars you kill, only 2 of them are actually assassinated, and even then you are guided down a strict path.

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, the open-world faffing about was quite fun, but can we pleeeeeeaaase have some more stabbing?

 

[rees263]

Jesus, 12.5 million? I never imagined it was so popular. Other than CoD what sells more than that? Mario? Pokemon?

Unless Ubisoft are worse at budgeting than EA et al I think they will do fine, even with "conservative" sales forecasts.

 

[likalaruku]

Oh Ubisoft, you better not be threatening to make us your b**ch, because we all know what happened last time someone threw around those kinds of promises.