Will this be the END of Ubisoft as we know it?

[@Morgoth3847]

Oh man, I really miss that days... My very first game was command & conquer, and I'll never forget that amazing experience, were even the instalation process was customized. Great video btw! It's good to hear from someone else who work in the field, you are not alone.

[@TheNerd]

This may sound harsh but it's about time that some of the companies collapse. Hiring diverse employees to maximize profit is not the reason you should be hiring. You should hire people because of their skill and passion only. But (sadly) a lot of companies hire because of race, gender, political views etc. to push agendas that maximize profit.

[@HazVsRPG]

Yup this is a 100% fact.

[@ThisShowStinks]

Some in the gaming industry have forgotten what it is all about. It isn't all about making money. Not for the "gamers" anyway. It is an expression of creativity and an artistic point of view. Producing games for profit alone will result in a joyless product.

[@HazVsRPG]

You're exactly right about that. Luckily there are a lot of devs out there that are still in the phase of making games because they like games not 'we could make shit loads of money if we do this!'

[@peterk2735]

It’s an unfortunate trend in software development as a whole. Big companies like these are full of project managers, product owners, business analysts, marketing specialists, monetisation directors (lol), etc, brought in to maximise profit. The number of people involved in the actual development of the software is probably like 15-20% of the employees. You can guess who gets to make the important decisions. It’s why I only work in smaller companies with agile teams, that’s the only way you get to have control of what you create as a developer.(unless you work for yourself ofc)

[@TempoLOOKING]

@@HazVsRPG not many look at Godot. Look at FOSS these days. I blame Bill Gates for this. Microsoft has funded SO many programs all HATE WHITE MEN. Why should our race or sex matter in programming.

[@jamesheyworth4370]

Even in the old 8 bit days, the highlight of my week (Saturday) was going the a local game shop with my Granddad to buy a game whether it was on cassette or 5 1/2 inch floppy. On the drive back to my Granddad house I would first scrutinise the art on the cover, check out the still shot images on the back, hoping it was for my system and not for the c64, crack open the box, if disk, or take out the inner sleeve if it was a cassette game and get to grips with the story and controls for the hard days work ahead. My Granddad was the best! He had a room with a BBC model B, Acorn Electron, and Atari 800 xl set up on furniture he built specifically. I'd give anything to grab one of those days again, just one, a rainy one will do. RIP Walter Kershaw. People, especially the young will never experience those physical moments with like minded family member and loved ones. Thanks for triggering some wonderful memories Man......Physical was king!

[@HazVsRPG]

1000% I have these memories too. It's why I have my physical collection of games behind me. A lot of physical collectors editions right there. Legend!!

[@bestdjaf7499]

​@@jamesheyworth4370 The games in 90th were amazing. I remember playing Thief & Prince of Persia & Lara Croft & SimCity & Warcraft & StarCraft & Formula 1 & even the flight simulators like F-16 & F-19... We didn't have thousands of games. But all the games we had were amazing. The funny part is, people still play them, and they are still popular.

[@bestdjaf7499]

*cont. I guess the 90th was amazing overall. The best movies & music & comedy & games & ... Kids could play unsupervised. Everything was allowed. ... I actually think that you can re-master any game from the 90th, and it would probably be popular.

[@Vladislav888]

0:02 Preach, brother. It's fundamentally similar to a Right to Repear Louis Rossman rants about. Also, that's a sexy looking box.

[@HazVsRPG]

What a game. It was sitting in the back of the store on the shelf, noone wanted it. Haha score!!!

[@Morindacil]

0:00 I remember buying those boxes in the 2000s. Quality stuff they were.

[@Primarch19th]

Hey, I am back to playing original DOOM, with the DOS emulator.

[@BA3YDADDY]

Look at No Man Sky, it’s a prime example of buying a game and everything coming after that is just free goodie’s, a big thanks for buying our game, and look at Hello Games now and think how many copies their next game will sell on the first month of release, it’s a prime example of how to do it the right way, yea i know No Man Sky had a rough launch but seriously what Hello Games have done with the game after that and all the free updates is just incredible.

[@HazVsRPG]

Agreed 1000% that's a great blueprint.

[@kevinmajorca]

The company lied to its customers for years. The CEO went on a tour of lies on national TV and constantly made up egregious false statements. Most of the stuff promised wasn't in the game. Hello Games even bs'd Sony. Then when they got caught, they just went all radio silent on their customers for over a year. The "free goodies" was the stuff they promised would be in the game day one. It wasn't just "a pretty rough launch". It was criminal under EU, UK and US law. I myself, am never going to buy anything from a company like that. No matter how good their product became years later.

[@davieboyy1436]

You just made one of The Best videos I have seen in a long time Haz. Everything you mention is 100% accurate. Very Very Well Done Good Sir.

[@AlvaroCarrilloWS]

Hey Haz, loving these videos. Shows you are not just an Artist and a Gamer, but also a very sounded and intelligent human being. Keep them up bud.

[@HazVsRPG]

Thanks so much dude, I appreciate that!!!

[@adamedwards5148]

Awesome vid! Used to love following your art! Believe it or not Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced in 2008!

[@HazVsRPG]

What in the hells, was it really announced in 2008 ?!?!!?!?

[@adamedwards5148]

@HazVsRPG yep CG announcement trailer was at e3 2008 lol, absolutely crazy.

[@emi3413]

I've recently found your channel and I must say I enjoy your content tremendously😉 You make sense, reasoning is solid and your voice is nice to listen to. Your insight on character creation was extremely fascinating as well! Hope you get more recognition soon.

[@HazVsRPG]

Hey thank you so much, very kind to say!!!

[@79Dtrain]

Absolute banger video Haz. Really enjoying these types of videos you've been doing lately bro. I really think sometimes that these developers of these once beloved publishers forget that a very good portion of the people that are playing their games have been playing games for 30, hell even 40+ years. We remember how good it use to be and we're fed up and not putting up with the bullshit anymore. Whether its poorly developed games or the insistence of inserting real-life politics/social issues into games, we're just done and showing it with our wallets.

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah that bullshit detector is being cranked up to the highest levels and as soon as we hear a blip, it's like 'wait, hang on' and it warrants investigation.

[@HandsomeTez]

Bang on mate. Also god damn I miss game Big Boxes or "games" as we used to call them. My first Big Box was Police Quest 3! Still have Lucas Arts Original boxes.

[@HazVsRPG]

Argh. I only have about a dozen or so big boxes left. Like an absolute tard i threw all my game boxes out when I moved overseas back in 2008. Literally my entire game collection of big boxes, In the bin *slaps head*. I tried to start buying the boxes only when I returned!!

[@TezUncut]

@@HazVsRPG I did the same thing many many moves back, sadly I can count all the big boxes I have left on two hands. I'm glad I kept things like MDK, Day of the Tentacle and The Curse of Monkey Island though. Good memories.

[@HazVsRPG]

Argh I feel the pain!!

[@MultiStendhal]

That message is coming from the guy whose job is to sell us XP booster on a singleplayer game, so that what, we can skip playing the game we paid for.

[@HazVsRPG]

Lol I know. It's... I don't really know what to say to that haha!!

[@BA3YDADDY]

It’s amazing to see your channel grow 🥳 your are so f’ing based 🙌🏻

[@HazVsRPG]

Hey thanks so much brother - good vibes!

[@peakresolve]

Great video! If you add the recent class action lawsuit in which Ubisoft allegedly shared customers' data with Meta, we can finally understand that Ubisoft set themselves up for failure with this mess. Treat your player base with disrespect, face the consequences. It's not us, Stevy boy. Go back to Little Timmy's corner and cry there.

[@scratwichman]

I totally miss lining up with my friends for a midnight release at GameStop. Then putting the disc in my console and hey what do you know I could instantly play it.

[@HazVsRPG]

Nowadays its like, download this app, enter the key, okay now download the launcher, which will launch the game, but wait, now you need to sign up and create an ingame account and your like 'FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU just lemme play the damn game!!!'

[@Xerdar36]

When you were talking about the people hammering a game together, I think of TIM COOK… god I miss the old days…

[@dgumbrecht]

I have to laugh at the guy who thinks gamers are some kind of "community". Dude, there's literally billions of gamers in the world. It's probably the most popular entertainment, certainly in the west. We're not a part of the same community or anything else. I don't have anything in common with the Director of Monetization at a multibillion dollar company, and his moral shaming has absolutely no meaning to me.

[@Never_Raines]

Neverwinter Nights was such a good time... Aribeth de Tylmarande you look so good on that box makes me kinda sad that my Diamond edition box was mostly just white lol...

[@HazVsRPG]

Great memories!! I love that game!!

[@UWG3]

What are all these weirdos' obsessions with saying criticism is hate. No one hates these companies and devs, we simply want them to DO BETTER!

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah thats it. It's like 'do better!'!!!

[@enoch1524]

Another good video with a good topic. It will be very interesting to see what happens. As for Veilguard, I think most fans are like me in that they’ve never wanted to be more wrong about a game.

[@HazVsRPG]

thats a really good way of looking at it. I WANT to be wrong about veilguard.

[@joshuanaillon1658]

Haz, I couldn't agree with you more on this topic. I hope that these companies actually take time to view these videos and seethe comments from their consumers or "gamers" and see it as a wake up call. This is also the reason why a lot or consumers now wait till games are on extreme sale before purchasing.

[@HazVsRPG]

Haha unfortunately its like a drop from a tiny pipette!

[@Trace153]

Sure hope it is the end, it need to happen to be a wake up call. To consumers and other companies. We are not “gamers” we are consumers. And if you don’t respect your consumer then you will have no company.

[@HazVsRPG]

Clap.

[@waelse1]

The "gamers" in quotes was striking, he was probably receiving accolades from his colleagues for posting that.

[@HazVsRPG]

I couldn't even tell you how many 'game devs' I worked with throughout my 15+ years that looked down on gamers. Talked about them in the 'quotes' and it always rubbed me the wrong way.

[@waelse1]

@@HazVsRPGI was a non-game dev for 20 years and it was a good thing we had non-dev employees whose job was talking to customers, like Tom "I have people skills!" in Office Space.

[@buckchoi]

As ever, appreciate your candid thoughts. Interested to hear what changed your mind on a few things. I first encountered this sort of attitude I don't know how many years ago on a gaming site where basically the writer was blaming gamers for ills in the gaming industry that they had no control over. It seemed to come down to the need not only to agree with them but be vocal about it. Disagreement, even simple calm factual statements, were met with responses that, at best, were like your a-hole waiter story from your last video. I fundamentally fail to understand this sort of attitude of expecting nothing but positivity. Of simultaneously looking down on customers/fans and being surprised that the peons don't like what you've done/said/attitude. If you show up with the goods they will buy, they will praise, otherwise you've got to step back, reflect, get help. And when it comes to monetization, why in the nine hells am I supposed to sympathize with the desire to milk me?

[@HazVsRPG]

The backhandedness is really the most bizzare part of it I believe. I mean, maybe its built into them upper management folks. Chip off the old block. The AAAA comment and so on. LIke come on man you cant genuinely believe that. Its so cringey. I changed my mind actually on the whole Top scars / surgery option. I do actually believe its a more political / inclusivityh statement to gain some points rather than it just being there. And the reason is because its not with the other scars. It's its own separate thing. So its been elevated to a different status, in a different location. Why would you take a scar option and put it by itself? Forcing me to pick a pronoun, thats not cool either. I don't subscribe to that way of life at all.

[@killermonk456]

I miss the days where you could walk into a game store look at all the games on the wall and grab what catches your eye and not worry about if the game is good or not. My first RPG Golden Sun was just like this. The box art alone told me it was going to be a fun game and it definitely was. Today I feel like I have to spend weeks researching a game, dev interviews, critic/ KZbin reviews, demos etc. And even with all that information you can still by that game and it be completely terrible. Someone take us back, we need to go back!!

[@HazVsRPG]

Tell me about it man!!! I want to go back!!!

[@ToeShimmel]

Also Ubisoft... "we plan to pump out 10 AC games in the coming 6 months"

[@ClaythePokeChamp]

remember when companies said that digital games would cost less? i remember. its like these companies only care about maximizing profits off the customers backs.

[@HazVsRPG]

Actually, now that you say that I DO REMEMBER THAT!!! fuck lol, I actually forgot about that 'time' !!!

[@michaelcoffey1991]

@Haz you remain one of my favorite channels for the person you are, integrity, your love (borderline worship lol) of the rpg, and your love of gaming. We have to keep calling these Scummy ceo's and scummy publisher companies, and stop buying them until they are 4.99$

[@HazVsRPG]

Thanks so much dude I appreciate you and your comments!!

[@michaelcoffey1991]

@@HazVsRPG The feeling is very mutual

[@ThatCasper]

Packaging costs, gone. Physical media costs (like CD's), gone. Shipping costs around the world, gone. Price of games higher than Snoopdog's frontal cortex. I'm probably too stupid to understand why. But, why?

[@tamarinds]

this was a good video.

[@TheAazv17]

Agree with you 100% about the industry and their detached, out of touch attitude with their consumer base. I've heard how they refer to gamers as negative and haters from inside a company, it's very sad. I'm not going to say more for obvious reasons, but this is accurate.

[@HazVsRPG]

100% man. Not required to say anything more! . If you know, you know.

[@ignazioacerenza9881]

I went on Linkedin to find that post and tell that guy something about making beds and sleeping in them but I couldn't find it.

[@HazVsRPG]

Like the other posts that have had content made about them, he swiftly removed and deleted it. I dont know whats worse!

[@ignazioacerenza9881]

@@HazVsRPG I dunno. I'd delete it, too.

[@autism-is-unstoppable8017]

Unfortunately the sales numbers of physical releases don't justify the cost of overhead. Even I perfer to buy digital, it's just too convenient. Plus there's always piracy if things get too crazy.

[@NONOOBZ4EVR]

I still play Lethal Company with my close friends. I think I've had more fun on that than I've had on any Triple-A game from the past 6 years or so

[@ZersusSlaid]

Came here to listen to the same thoghts I had all week, and yeah, the "hate" and "minority" seems to be spreading like fire, "Must have been the wind" and nothing else causing all those comments, hundreds and hundreds of comments, videos, of discontent from the community that the companies themselves built with the love that they had once.

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah thats it, theres too much content - too many people saying exactly the same things, but we must be all wrong haha!!

[@BoyseyFTW]

Totally agree, Haz. Some of the best games iv'e ever played cost £1.99 on cassette: complete with fold-out art, lore and instruction manual. Those were my pocketmoney sink and well worth washing dishes for all week long! On a different note; i hope you return to Dragon's Dogma 2, it has had some loving patches and is worth a new-game plus!

[@HazVsRPG]

I remember saving up my paper round money for 1 game and loving it haha!!

[@aeschynanthus_sp]

I wouldn't call a "monetization director" a "game developer". Ubisoft, certainly, but the way you said sounded like were referring to the director there.

[@HazVsRPG]

Well, see now thats a good point. Everyone who works at a game development company would classify themselves as a 'game dev' they all do. Thats just part of the hubris.

[@JohnTrimmer-l7m]

Its not the vocal minority, its the vocal majority. Stevys boat is going down like the Titantic.

[@HazVsRPG]

I tried in vein today to download farcry 3 from the ubisoft connect launcher and it bugged out - then some people from the stream tried and noone could do it. Some shits going down right now.

[@fb1767]

These guys are out of their minds defending multi billion companies like it's a baby.

[@kingjabon]

Only in 2024 can a man have a great cushioned job and yet be allowed to not only complain about it publicly but also shit on the people who he needs to keep his job.

[@HazVsRPG]

Mind blowing right?!

Ubisoft died 10+ years ago. This company is not the same. This Ubisoft is a steaming pile of crap. Won't be missed. If Ubisoft (hopefully) dies, that will be a warning sign to the whole industry. It needs to happen.

[@MatsGarage]

The media hate is not directed at the programmers. graphics creators etc. Its at you Stevey, the managers that are disconnected from us the gamers and customers. Give us a proper, old school, buy once, quality game and you will get our support. If you cant, sorry but then there are other studios small and large that can and will earn our money. Ubisofts "size" doesnt mean it cannot fail if the leadership makes continously bad decisions.

[@HazVsRPG]

I do actually believe they are living in some very weird alternate boardroom meetings completely different from any game dev whatsoever haha.

[@squirrelsyrup1921]

>Be member of Corporate Monetization Director community >Greetings fellow "Gamers". Aren't WE awful?

[@HeyItsTheWykydtron]

Honestly, Ubisoft as we know it ended a decade ago when they first put "time savers" in their games

[@shawnn188]

great vid needed to be said i'm not really a ubisoft guy for the reasons you brought my biggest concerns now is bioware and what there calling the next dragon age game they used to have the best writing in gaming where able actual to affect the games not this new game they took all choice away not able to transfer choices from earler and better games and only 3 choices from dai will matter i'm scared to death what they gonna do to mass effect if they doing this to dragon age

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah there has been a few people say exactly what you have said right here in the comments!!!

[@bored_ming5639]

For UBI this all comes from a CEO that is still wild about NFT's and does not want you to own video games. This CEO is what the investors and board approved. So this Timmy is just drinking the kool-aid his 'betters' are serving him. Little does he know he does not share the same golden parachute they have. Thanks for the vid Haz and keep em' coming!

[@HazVsRPG]

You're welcome dude! It sounds more likely that a buyout might be in the cards then. It sounds like this could be the best option for all parties.

[@beckthetech5662]

I use to love ubisoft and considered it my fave dev. Something started changing in the last 4 or so years where quality has gone way down. Valhalla was the last game i really loved but even that wasnt as good as games like origina and odyssey. i adore far cry 3,4,5 and even new dawn but 6 wasnt quite as good. i hope they get it together and get back to the old ubi that i use to love.

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah that 2019 - 2020 mark seems to be that point where it started to go south!!!

[@kryllyn]

I think most corporations are, to some extent, doomed to this cycle. Making video games has become increasingly expensive - knowledge, technology, and people's time - the costs have grown exponentially. At some point, many game developers need more money than they currently have to create even greater games. That's where investors come in. And what do they typically do? In simple terms - multiply money/investment. John Sculley knew how to create superb advertisements for Apple back in the day. But after that, the board, despite all its expertise, got rid of the most crucial ingredient for success: Steve Jobs. In their view, it was too costly to keep Jobs and his expensive 'experiments'/R&D/vision (however you want to call it). "The Mask" was a success back in the day - so they decided to make a remake/sequel. They took everything they thought worked in the original, but with all their knowledge, they failed to recognize that, for the movie to work as well, they needed Jim Carrey - the key ingredient. Maybe the movie example isn’t perfect, but what’s the core issue here? The people making decisions are not the same people who made the success happen in the first place. As the author of the video said - they don’t fully or truly understand what drove that success. The success of the Apple II wasn’t just Sculley’s ad. The success of The Mask wasn’t just the gags or the screenplay. Investors often know "just enough" about the industry they're entering. They believe that experience from other industries is good enough to multiply their money - even if it’s only 1% per year. Instead of big leaps, they prefer steady, predictable growth - certainty above all else. Some investors, however, do know better. Take--Two, for example: yes, they milk money from GTA Online, but Rockstar Games and Rockstar North still create unique and generally high--quality games. Ubisoft is trapped in a vicious cycle. They make even bigger games, which cost even more money, which then requires more 'monetization' to justify those costs. If that doesn't work? Fine, let's make two Assassin's Creed games a year... swinging from one extreme to the other. But that’s the corporate mentality - they don’t know how to slow down or stop to improve things. Money makes money, so the wheels must keep spinning. In my opinion, if it weren’t for the younger generation, who don’t know better and are willing to throw their money at these games, the gaming industry would have reset years ago. Another bubble would have popped. In the worst--case scenario, Ubisoft will shut down piece by piece until it’s sold to another company (Microsoft?).

[@HazVsRPG]

Your Mask example is why i cannot fathom to even watch Rings of Power. I just cant do it - none of the actors are as good, and the source material hasnt been respected for me. I cant just mindlessly consume something unless i feel like its been distorted in a way that makes me feel like the target audiance in some way. And I simply am not the target audiance for Rings of Power. But the thing is, im okay with that. I will never watch an episode, but im not going to complain about it to the producers - they just dont get my money.

[@kryllyn]

@@HazVsRPG exactly. And when even younger audiences eventually turn away from developers like Ubisoft, things will get ugly. That's when the flood of complaints from the 'monetization people' will begin...

[@Vladislav888]

15:30 There is a non-zero chance that they dial down al of the bullshit and give us a banger of game. But most likey it would be meh.

[@HazVsRPG]

I hope that it's a good story. I really do. But the whole miring of the studio right now makes me wonder if it's even possible without some drastic changes.

[@bestdjaf7499]

I think the Assassin Creed was originally good & based on the "Prince of Persia" from 90th. All these games actually came from 90th. We had the same games in 90th, exept the MMO games. The games I played in 90th is basically the same games people play today. And we didn't have the "monetization" stuff. In 90th, we had everything from Doom/Quake to Worcraft/Spacecraft/Simcity & Thief & Lara Croft/Prince of Persia & Flight Simulators F16... & Formula 1... And Wolfenstein & Duke Nukem... The majority of the games people play are actually are from 90th or base on those games.

[@HazVsRPG]

Yeah same ideas, same gameplay loops, just better graphcis nowadays and filled with much more monetisation!

[@Britephartt]

I really makes me laugh that the scum who's job it is to rip off customers as much as possible think he's a decent man. He's NOT.

[@davieboyy1436]

Also...I think. In some way shape or form. This video should be sent to all of the AAA game devs. See what they would think after watching it. I mean...actually taking in all that was said with the video and the comments.

[@HazVsRPG]

Hahah if I know anything about game devs, they just wouldn't do it. So many that I worked with are egotistical monsters who are above the people who consume their products.

[@CGsoufiane]

If that guy cared about videogames he wouldn't have became a monetization director, in-game monetization is what started the downfall of videogames before DEI

[@CV-gr4gj]

Simply because they used to cater to their fans and then they turned their backs to them time and time again, going as far as unlisting splinter cell games and inserting predatory micro-transaction models to get past the grind. Shadows is probably cooked unless they go back to the original concept but that's never happening.

[@HazVsRPG]

By Original concept you mean Assassins Creed 1 kind of game?

[@CV-gr4gj]

@@HazVsRPG Before Yasuke the protagonist was a japanese male. Yasuke was allegedly inspired by BLM and there's no evidence he was ever a samurai or gay.

[@HazVsRPG]

wait hes gay now too?

[@CV-gr4gj]

@@HazVsRPG Only a DEI consultant could make this up. I'm almost sorry about all the backlash because they probably delayed the game to tone all of that down and to remove the hip-hop music.

[@cfehunter]

Neverwinter nights had expansions. By all rights the campaign it shipped with was a tutorial and example piece for the mod tools, and the actual game was in Tides of the Underdark. Probably a bad example for a complete game in a box.

[@HazVsRPG]

I think you mean hordes of the underdark. Shadows of the undrentide was the first addon, but no, I disagree. Great complete game. Good story wrap up, played through it recently again, with both add ons after completing main story.

[@CharlesVanexX]

Hope they release black flag remake....if its good.

[@SeriousPeaches]

You shouldnt need a monetization director. If you make a good game, you will make a lot of money - just look at Baldurs Gate 3.

[@DanteAngeli-d6u]

Ubisoft, Bioware, Bethesda, and the list goes on. I'm not surprised to learn that game dev often don't even play video games: I actually had that intuition for a while because it really is obvious with many games. There is a massive lack of understanding between gamers and game companies. At this point I came to the conclusion that they either really don't want to listen, or they got brain controled by space lizards. Fortunatly, game developpement has never been so accessible, and I strongly believe that true passionate indi dev are the future of this industry. The fact that the giants are falling is a good new: let this be a lesson for the future of the industry that you can never become to big to fall, and that the gaming industry is about passion, pleasing the customers, and more than anything respecting the gamers.

[@HazVsRPG]

Exactly, thats how i see it going too. the indy space is thriving, and will lead the way!!

[@EvenStarMN]

Never winter nights. My lord game.

[@HazVsRPG]

The full series was amazing. Dlc with shadows and hordes of the underdark was phenominal!!!

[@EvenStarMN]

@@HazVsRPG I mean My Loved game. Google auto correction error 😁

[@mysticalos]

And you go back just 6 years and play a game like far cry 5 and go "what the hell happened?"

[@HazVsRPG]

exactly dude, just 5-6 years. Its not that long!!!

[@Makoto03]

I sadly did not appreciate Far Cry 5 enough when it first released. I was disappointed in it compared to FC 3 and 4. But going back to it, its a fun game and definitely one of the last fun Ubisoft titles i enjoyed playing. I think Assassins Creed Shadows will sell just enough for Ubisoft to call it a 'success'. But even they admitted its not hitting the same preorders that Valhalla did. So i don't think it will even sell as much as AC Odyssey. Probably more than Origins though.

[@HazVsRPG]

Its going to be interesting for sure. Im really looking forward to this next year. I think its going to make or break Ubisoft!

[@gentlesirpancakebottoms6692]

Lucky the spirit of the 90s and early 2000's are carried on by indie and some AA devs/companies. Thanks to them as you mention video games and their development are in a very good place when looking outside of the bleak and depressing AAA sphere. They are ironically filling the void and replacing the long dead EA's and Ubisoft of the past who used to make and publish beloved and revered games. Larian studios have become the new "old" Bioware for example. Songs of Conquest plays and feels more like a proper Heroes of Might & Magic game than the last 3 H&MM releases. But also manage to feel unique with it's own original take on the genre and not a souless member berry rehash. Manor Lords are the Stronghold-Age of Empires 2 hybrid we used to dream of some day having. And now a super small team managed to fund and make something Microsoft or 2K apparently couldn't. Which even exceeds the quality of it's AAA counterparts. AAA are the reason I stopped caring about gaming and modern releases for almost a decade. Didn't bother with any console past the 7th gen and I started focusing my money and attention on building up a retro collection instead. But indie/AA rejuvenated my joy of modern gaming and made me invest in a gaming PC. I do play some AAA games from time to time like the recent Ghost of Tsushima port to PC, and love it! But one or two actually good games from a AAA studio aren't enough for me to care or invest in any system. The only reason Sony got my money was thanks to all the hard and great work of smaller games and studios being the reason for me even owning the hardware neccessary to buy and play Sony's game to begin with. Indie's are setting the trends now. AAA need to adapt. Which in this case is to try to be more like they were 15 years ago. Those who don't can wither and die for all I care and the industry at large would be healing.

[@HazVsRPG]

A lot of good points here, totally agree. Larian has totally become like the old Bioware! I really should give Manor Lords a good go!

[@davekaye5483]

Never has a business acting entitled to your money whilst simultaneously insulting their own customers ended in more customers. From a simple economic and business perspective, what Stevy wrote is just outright insanity. Also... industry pro of 10 years asking this question here, so what do I know, but don't major companies have entire on-boarding videos about how you should let the PR people at the corporations do the PR and not let the employees run around half-cocked making public statements that could reflect poorly on the studios? Why is it always these younger people under the age of 35 in middle-management roles raising hell on social media in ways that could get the company in trouble with such confidence as though they can do so without any tangible consequences?! Who in fuck's name gave them so much power without them proving they had the maturity to handle it? I imagine a board of directors would be asking for this kid's head if not for French labor law making it nearly impossible to get rid of such twats.

[@HazVsRPG]

Its very tricky, see I dont know about how that works in Canada / France etc, but i do have experience with dealing with someone just like this. And the length and hoops that had to be jumped through to get this guy out of the studio was diabolical to be frank. He also got a heft severance just because. And when i left the company after several years of service, i left nicely, and got, well a pat on the back. That guy left, got a heft paycheck and was straight into another position at another studio. It really makes you wonder right?

[@minraja]

It's always been this way. We never owned software of any kind in the United states. Anyone says differently doesn't know the law. I don't know why people keep repeating that we owned software as fact. This is literally software 101. The difference between now and then is that with every thing tied to the internet it has made it much easier for them to issue the kill switch. That won't change until they change the law.

[@GhostLeadGaming]

ubisoft now will get comfortable with not owning their company. eyaaa yametehhh!

[@Ratchies]

They've only got themselves to blame. I'm not toxic or hateful and yet I still don't want to "buy" the latest Ubisoft live services / games so what's going on there then? Another solid take Haz thanks.

[@HazVsRPG]

I don't think I'm a hateful or toxic person either. I actually liked ubisoft games!! I still play ubisoft games!! But most of what I enjoy is from long ago.

[@Ratchies]

Yeah same here, I really quite liked Far Cry 5 but thought 6 was just too much. It was stretched out too much, a lot like Assassin's Creed Valhalla was. For me it's that lack of a focussed narrative, combined with live service tricks to make you grind then topped off with far too on the nose DEI checkboxing that has done them in for me.

[@threemoo]

​@@HazVsRPG @Ratchies Don't say "I'm not toxic or hateful", in doing so you act as though these people are anything but disingenuous. When these liars claim you are something, don't legitimise their claims as genuine concern, the appropriate response is to tell them to F off. A (predatory) monetisation director for a company that explicitly banned men from a training programme telling the consumers they're "non-decent human beings"? Abysmal!

[@HazVsRPG]

Oh what is that? Banned Men from a training program!?

[@Ratchies]

Not really but yeah I suppose that's not great. For me it's more when I see something that seems to have been just placed in a game to hit a quota of some sort rather than it making sense that it's there. Perhaps I've become hyper sensitive to that sort of thing but I know it when I see it and it just breaks my immersion. It's weird because not all games do that and manage to implement diversity in an unobtrusive way however Ubisoft are just so ham fisted with it.

[@cernunnos_lives]

That's right. We don't own the games purchased on Steam either. I've been trying to stay with GOG. And when the CEO of Steam goes, I'll stay far away from it.

[@kevinmgxp]

Nothing more than the truth

[@pault.6653]

Worst customer service experience I have ever experienced. I will not buy ubi, period.

[@PatrickF.Fitzsimmons]

they past the tipping point some time ago, they will be sold and broken up.

[@HazVsRPG]

I think they will sell it too. I dont think the board can actually deal with the fact that Ubi's value lost ANOTHER 50% since last october. Its insane.

[@SlimyKrabbys]

Revert to Monke. Never accept politics especially in your hobbies. GATEKEEP, GATEKEEP, GATEKEEP.

[@HazVsRPG]

That's a really good rule I like that.

[@Franku_4]

I think the problem is that bigger games need more people and more people need more pay. So UBI had to churn out these yearly games because otherwise they would have collapsed. This is just the nature of capitalism. It's destined to grow. But there is always a point when stuff can go wrong.

[@HazVsRPG]

Oh yeah for sure, but thats kind of what we are tlaking about here, its like you beat a recent ubisoft game and see 5000 names in the credits that roll for 40 minutes. And i dont think anyone at Ubisoft ever stopped to go - do we actually need this many people to create this game? And the answer is a resounding no. Many *many* other game devs are producing higher quality experiences with far far less. Thats really the kicker. And instead of a big company innovating in the realm of game design and game dev, they innovate in the realm of monetisation. Yeah good job guys!! LOL.

[@sofajockeyUK]

II've enjoyed the Assassin's Creed games and will doubtless enjoy the next. Mobile games and multiplayer I'm not interested in.

[@spazmagoog]

Nobody is going to buy AC Shadows except reviewers and streamers, and the streamers are only going to play it so they can make fun of it.

[@HazVsRPG]

So youre thinking less than 1 million copies? Hazard a guess??

[@spazmagoog]

@@HazVsRPG I didn't think of people who aren't online enough to know about any of the controversy and might just pick it up because they remember AC as a good franchise. Counting them, I dunno a couple mil tops? I'm just a layman spitballing numbers here. All I'm sure of is there's no way they're making their money back on this one.

[@HazVsRPG]

Oh yeah I dont think they will make back the investment on this one either. No chance.

[@mattd8725]

I don't care about what you are talking about, but if I see a dude with a beanie and a beard holding up a NWN box, I click. For a long time, I've just seen these big publishers as exploiting young people who have a dream to work in the games industry. I mean, it's not like old companies like Interplay and Blizzard didn't do the same back in the day, but they were also run by gamers who actually let people work on games they loved.

[@HazVsRPG]

Lol this definitely got a chuckle out of me.

[@GiblixStudio]

"I did my best....give me praise" sorry buddy. This isn't high school where you earn participation prices for just showing up. Your best isn't good enough and the world doesn't owe you anything. Welcome to the real world. Now grow up and become a decent human being yourself for once.

[@HazVsRPG]

it is a very odd stance to take. But particularly odd from the Monetization Director haha!!!

[@MateoTeos]

Sup, Mate! Well, I can say that all these companies are riding on the trust credits from their old projects, and these tires are wearing out. I'm more shocked how people and companies like Ubi are out of touch with reality. You said right that we don't care if they worked hard if the result is still poop, this is not how ANY business works. With my 10+ years of experience as a UX/Product diz in different media including game dev I can note 4 good practices that actually work every time: 1. Do your work responsibly, nerd about it, and don't whine playing the victim! 2. Listen to your ACTUAL auditory and talk with them. 3. Acknowledge your fuckups and be honest about it. 4. Don't bloat your team; better to have a small but passionate team than 300+ folks with poor communication and processes. - This is the basis, then you can add market research, hire people based on their skills and similar passion, etc. Like, not very hard to do, right? By the way... I'm interested to hear your thoughts about the Pyramid Head hat from the Silent Hill 2 remake. I had some background in 3D and I know that nowadays you don't really care about polycount so much, but still... having such a dense mesh just for the "silhouette" instead of tesselation sounds like a bad practice to me because this crap will still add to overall weight and load time (especially if there more such details all over the place.)

[@BigDipLip]

lol Gamerz are pregaming for Ubisoft's funeral. Rightfully so.

[@CGsoufiane]

I think assassin's Creed shadows will be on the same level as star wars mediocre at best

[@HazVsRPG]

I have a funny feeling youre right about this.

[@Primarch19th]

Hahahahaha Seriously? You are a month late and $hundreds$ of dollars short. This topic has been discussed by hundreds of tubers already. My advice, do something current to attract viewers. "The Emperor Protects" **

[@HazVsRPG]

Nah, I just do whatever feels right to me at the time :) But thanks for your input!