Ubisoft Responds to AC:U Criticism - Will Change its Review Policies

[Steven Bogos]

Ubisoft Responds to AC:U Criticism - Will Change its Review Policies

Ubisoft will be changing the way it works with reviewers in the future, as well as offering customers open betas and early access to more titles.

Assassin's Creed: Unity launched earlier this week, and seems to be spreading controversy whenever it is mentioned. From BBC [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138538-Low-Frame-Rates-in-Early-Reports-of-Assassins-Creed-Unity], the publisher has addressed some of those complaints, albeit, in a very PR, "we're not really wrong, but we can see why you may think that" kind of way.

"We are working to adapt our services and communications with consumers accordingly, both by changing the way we work with reviewers and by offering customers open betas or other early access to some games, all so that they have the information they need and want," said an Ubisoft spokeswoman.

However, she tried to explain the situation away by stating that "Having the online elements available and having populated worlds is essential to creating a representative and complete experience for reviewers. Achieving this prior to launch is incredibly complex, which is why some games are being reviewed much closer - or as was the case with Destiny, even after - the game launches."

For the record, Assassin's Creed: Unity's online component consisted of four-player co-op, a far cry from Destiny's massively-multiplayer worlds.

As for the almost hilarious graphical glitches (such as the nightmare-fuel image of the faceless man you'll see above), Ubisoft has stated that a patch is in the works, but wouldn't offer a time-frame for its release.

Source: BBC [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30040613]

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[Veldel]

Just stop digging ubisoft. Can your hole get any deeper.

Of course with all the shit your spewing it wouldn't be suprised if the hole if filled to the brim with shit.

 

[RJ 17]

Ahhh, I see they've taken the Microsoft PR strategy of repeatedly insulting the intelligence of your consumer base. Because that always works.

"No really, it would take forever and cost ALL THE MONIES to make a female assassin!"
"No really, 30 FPS is much better than 60 FPS!"
"No really, we want reviewers to have access to the full experience and the multiplayer wasn't ready until launch!"

 

[MCerberus]

"We won't do it again, unless we release another turd, then we'll just apologize again, sheep"

 

[Grabehn]

"By giving customers open betas" GOD DAMMIT TEST YOUR GAMES YOURSELVES. WOW Does Ubisoft just keep making itself look worse and worse. Since Revelations they started putting more and more studios and making the games worse and worse, just make a good concise product. It's really annoying to see companies like this one saying "developing is hard" when they just keep making their games more and more demanding, poorly implemented and poorly tested, making a game bigger for the sake of it won't do you any good, but putting 10/15 studios on it? COME ON.

While far from perfect and pretty tedious in the "extra content" department, AC 1 was fine. AC 2 was ALL the first one wanted to be, although separating itself from the "I want no cutscenes" view the creator had, but it was pretty damn good. Gameplay wise Brotherhood was the peek and they just went downhill from there, putting more and more studios to the task of making something good just plain worse. Although overextending the Ezio story was what did it for me, so by the time Revelations launched I was out.

 

[RicoADF]

I'm glad I didn't bother with AC:U, kind of saw the crap from a year away. AC4 is the last one for me it seems.

 

[Micah Weil]

Just stop digging ubisoft. Can your hole get any deeper.

Not by digging. That's why we invented dynamite!

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

So they've hit China and now are looking to tunnel themselves back?

Ubi, fire your PR department like last year. Just restructure the whole damn company while you're at it. You've got incompetents running the show, that is not a good sign.

 

[RicoADF]

I'm glad I didn't bother with AC:U, kind of saw the crap from a year away. AC4 is the last one for me it seems.

Mine was AC:Revelations, and I'm still mad at that PC port. Ho boy, Ubisoft will lose its customer base at this rate.

I didn't get Revelations until it was in the $20 bin as I didn't consider it worth more than an expansion and was alright, but this....

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

"We won't do it again, unless we release another turd, then we'll just apologize again, sheep"

+1

I've lost count of how many times Ubisoft or EA have released a shitty game which everyone complains about on Day 1 only to go and lap up the next one.

 

[tippy2k2]

Oh no you don't Ubisoft! That's exactly what Saddam Hussein said and look what happened there!


In fact...this video is disturbingly similar to the relationship Ubisoft seems to have with their customers...

 

[Ticklefist]

I watched a gameplay video. Even without the technical problems it would better be served as a free pack-in disc in a Games for Dummies book.

 

[Something Amyss]

Ahhh, I see they've taken the Microsoft PR strategy of repeatedly insulting the intelligence of your consumer base. Because that always works.

"No really, it would take forever and cost ALL THE MONIES to make a female assassin!"
"No really, 30 FPS is much better than 60 FPS!"
"No really, we want reviewers to have access to the full experience and the multiplayer wasn't ready until launch!"

In fairness, admitting you screwed up would be honest, and it might cause one of the demons obviously latched to the souls of Ubisoft PR to start wailing uncontrollably. Those shrieks can rend flesh.

"We won't do it again, unless we release another turd, then we'll just apologize again, sheep"

Even if the apology came off as sincere, I would suspect this. After all, we don't judge people so much by their promises as whether or not they keep them.

I wasn't going to buy ACU anyway, though. I don't have a current gen console and I'm not using a Uplay game again any time soon. But still, this is the sort of thing that puts me off a company for a while.

Mine was AC:Revelations, and I'm still mad at that PC port. Ho boy, Ubisoft will lose its customer base at this rate.

The last couple games have seen a decline in sales. They were up from the the first side title, but it's likely this one will mark a continued decline, and that will really point to a trend.

 

[StriderShinryu]

If all (or a very large part) of a game's experience consists of multiplayer (such as an MMO like Destiny or an online only multiplayer title like Titanfall) then I can understand why a reviewer would need to have access to a proper online copy of the game to do their job. Quite frankly, pre-release user barren online lobbies or publisher funded "online" test sessions in a swanky hotel are not going to give you the information you need as a reviewer. Thing is, AC:U isn;t either of those. There's no way for Ubisoft to hide behind online play as why they couldn't let reviewers publish until after launch, especially considering that reviewers actually had the game prior to launch but just weren't allowed to publish until after. That smells, actually reeks, of nothing but trying to hide the very obvious problems you knew your game has/had. Embargoes make sense but this wasn't an embargo, this was just bullshit.

As for the more open betas and demos thing? That's not necessarily a bad idea as long as they don't try to play every problem with the demo/beta off as being "not representative of the finished product." But yeah, that's exactly what they're gonna do.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

But review embargoes are fine! Journalists aren't too close with developers. We can trust 8/10 reviews. No really guys, its all okay. Just go back to buying games mindlessly, and stop pointing out flaws in the system.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Also, WTF is it with this line?

"Having the online elements available and having populated worlds is essential to creating a representative and complete experience for reviewers. Achieving this prior to launch is incredibly complex, which is why some games are being reviewed much closer - or as was the case with Destiny, even after - the game launches."

So only reviewers are entitled to a representative and complete experience, while the rest of you who've paid on day one can wait your turn?

 

[Sanunes]

The problem I am having with Ubisoft is they aren't learning from their mistakes, for they have been making more and more mistakes with their games since Assassin's Creed 2 by forcing a yearly release and this year its two games being released at the same time. I stopped purchasing Ubisoft games for more then $10 after the issues I had with Assassin's Creed 2, now I continue to buy their games because I want to show I have an interest in them, but I refuse to pay full price because they aren't worth the cost when they are buggy and broken at release.

Personally I wish they would have done the same thing that BioWare seems to have done with Dragon Age: Inquisition, used the new consoles as a fresh start and root out and lessen the problems with their game development.

 

[ryukage_sama]

The Escapist needs to embed the "sad trombone" sound effect every time someone opens one of these news posts.

Unless Ubisoft happens to bundle the game free with computer hardware like they did AC4:The Search for More Booty, I'm going to be sitting out for Unity. I'm just not fascinated with the time period. Just a demonstration of one failed system after another.

 

[144_v1legacy]

"You couldn't get away with releasing a buggy game in the cartridge and cassette days ? you'd get sentenced to a trampling under the company brontosaurus."
-Yahtzee Croshaw

Also, I find that the mistake a lot of PR people make is that they talk too much. What this one should have said is, and I'm paraphrasing, "I'm sorry to everyone it's happened to, we'll fix it immediately, and it won't happen again."

Owning up to your mistakes is a sign of integrity. Passing them off and playing them down is a sign of dishonesty.