LAS VEGAS – Contrary to what you might have heard, Ubisoft's Jade Raymond says her studio is not yet creating a new franchise.
The producer of Assassin's Creed and managing director of Ubisoft's new Toronto studio spoke Thursday morning at the DICE Summit, an annual conference of top gaming executives. The big story coming out of the talk, or so it seemed, was that Raymond's studio was hard at work on an all-new game series that would integrate social media aspects. But in a followup interview with Wired.com later that day, Raymond clarified her remarks, saying no such project was currently in the works at Ubisoft Toronto.
"My talk was really about what I'm thinking, and what's coming up in the future," Raymond said. "For now we're working on the next Splinter Cell and one other unannounced project." That game, she said, will be part of an existing Ubisoft franchise.
In her talk, Raymond said she wanted to create a new blockbuster game that wasn't just the topic of water-cooler discussion, but was the water cooler itself – a place where players spend time and interact with each other. "World of Warcraft is the new golf; Call of Duty is the new bowling," she said.
Raymond also pushed for games to embrace fan participation, a la Star Trek: "The great benefit of working with fans is that they will keep your franchise fresh and relevant," she said. "When fans really own the franchise, they love it and they will create great content."
So we can expect a new game series from Ubisoft to incorporate Raymond's ideas about the future – if the studio does make one. For the time being, it is not.
