GameON Finance 2009: Ubisoft credits technology ‘breakthroughs’ for video game successes

Forget tax credits, funding systems and market research – if video game developers really want to succeed, they need to get serious about creativity, according to Yannis Mallat, president and CEO of video-game maker Ubisoft in Canada. In a presentation at Interactive Ontario’s GameON Financing 2009 conference in Toronto this week, Mallat said creativity leading to innovation is the key to Ubisoft’s success. “We’ve come to realize the breakthrough is the single factor that all our major successes have in common,” he said. Speaking before a room of developers, technologists and financiers, Mallat explained that the atmospheric lighting featured in Ubisoft’s game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and the realistic movement of the screen characters in the company’s Sands of Time were the result of technological advancements that set the titles apart from the competition. Mallat was one of the star presenters at the GameON conference, where game makers, backers, and industry observers gathered to share best practices and potentially make new deals. Considered something of an also-ran in the regional race to be Canada’s prime video-game hub, Ontario scored a major coup recently by convincing Ubisoft to build a new studio in Toronto. Mallat said he believes management of the creative process can make or break a development firm – but he also explained that for Ubisoft, innovation came first through trial and error, and the management piece followed. Describing the early days of Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, which opened in 1997, Mallat said the staff largely consisted of enthusiastic but young and inexperienced talent. Yet theirs raw energy and interest opened the door for innovations such as nuanced lighting and realistic characters. Now, Ubisoft has transformed what was trial and error into a sanctioned process. Whereas the traditional game development workflow begins with the conceptualization phase, Ubisoft begins with what it calls the breakthrough stage, where a team of 10 to 12 Ubisofters develops, verifies, and supports through various proofs the innovation that they believe will differentiate any new title from those that came before. Mallat said Ubisoft defines a breakthrough as a unique feature based on technological innovation that engages players and leads to new way to play a game. Breakthroughs should ensure that the players benefit (i.e., have more fun) and encourage the developers to take risks in game design. Business does play a part as well, Mallat said – “controlled investments” based on the breakthrough team’s proofs help Ubisoft make sure it’s nurturing the right innovations to support the bottom line. Mallat said the breakthrough process helped Ubisoft develop a new method of handling digital assets, such that the company can re-use elements of its video games for other media, such as movies, something it has done with its next Assassin’s Creed title, “Lineage”. Alongside the game, Ubisoft is releasing a movie to flesh out the story behind the game play. “This represents a major breakthrough for us.” Mallat said Ubisoft’s Toronto team will develop breakthroughs as well – but that begs a question. If the young Montreal team’s enthusiasm and energy paved the way for innovation, how will the T.O. team fare? After all, in Montreal 12 years ago, Ubisoft was working with inexperienced kids. In Toronto, the firm expects to find a different kind of employee – a bit more experienced, and slightly more industry-savvy. Will that make the Toronto crew less innovative? Not a chance, Mallat said. “I see Toronto starting where Montreal already is, and having a head start. But it doesn’t have anything to do with senior people keeping us from being innovative. I don’t think that at all. When we created the Montreal studio, a few senior people came from Paris. That was really important. We are doing the same in Toronto, making sure that experienced people from other studios set the right way of doing things.”

GameON Finance 2009: Ubisoft credits technology ‘breakthroughs’ for video game successes

News | 10/29/2009 3:04 pm EDT

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