“The debut E3 trailer set the graphical bar high for the Ubisoft developers, as far as current gen is concerned they get a pass but the 360 and PS3 ports have come under a lot of criticism.”

The initial sales figures suggest that Ubisoft hopes of a new franchise to add to their development rooster might come to fruition. Over 4 million copies sold in its first week, making the game the best-selling new IP at launch. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot commented last month that they hoped to sell as much as the first Assassin’s Creed title which sold more than 6 million copies. At the current rate of 4 million in a week Watch_Dogs should easily surpass any of Ubisoft’s predictions and with a WiiU release still to come in September. With such impressive sales and generally positive reviews there is no doubt that the Ubisoft heads will be cracking the whip for their Montréal development team to get back to work on a sequel. In fact last year the Head of Sales and Marketing at the company Tony Key made the comment “That’s what all our games are about; we won’t even start if we don’t think we can build a franchise out of it. There’s no more fire and forget – it’s too expensive.” in reference to the then in development Watch_Dogs. A statement that reflects Ubisoft’s current catalogue of games that are mostly made up of sequels or games based on existing properties. Nobody can really blame the publisher from taking a conservative approach when faced with new IP, video game budgets have increased tenfold in the last decade. The likes of GTA V costing Rockstar over $250 million, with the company relying on the games accumulated reputation to shift copies and recoup the costs. Even if Ubisoft have to take a hit financially on the first release with planned sequels the can account for the initial loses in the franchise.

“A small hitch in the games release as arisen over a bug that causes players to get stuck on the games loading screen. Uplay, Ubisoft’s digital distribution service is suspected to be at fault.”

In an interesting move the publisher has also tasked their film division Ubisoft Motion Pictures to start drafting up a film script for Watch_Dogs. It seems a little earlier to planning a movie adaptation for a series that is so new but then again they are already thinking of the long term plan for this would be franchise. Ubisoft have already made plans for all their other major franchises to get the silver screen treatment, the Assassin’s Creed movie gathering steam with a late 2015 release date announced and Michael Fassbender attached as the lead. The video game industry in fact is beginning to mirror their Hollywood counterparts in some respects. At the top end of the industry the big players favour content that will be able to offer them significant return over a long period of time as opposed to a quick flash in the pan. It would be hard to envisage the pitch session for Goat Simulator with the executives at EA or Activision and the publisher drawing out plans for the game as a franchise. Disney planning out a road map for their highly successful Marvel series of films right through to 2021. The big movie producers favour adaptions over original screenplay, the video game industry taking a similar stance.  At the other end of the scale the indie scene has exploded in popularity with new IP finding great success in what can be sometimes a swing and miss sector of the industry. For as many triumphs like Minecraft and DayZ there are there are ten times as many failures among them. The indie movie scene following a similar failure success rate among the films released over the last few years.  However the more important issue surrounding Ubisoft’s movie studio is will we finally see a decent video game adaption in the cinemas, the video game community doesn’t needs another Prince of Persia movie.

“The film is still in early pre-production with no indication of what role Michael Fassbender might be taking on; Altair, Ezio or Connor?”

Taking a look at some of the other major publishers, paints a similar picture with already establish IP getting the go ahead and financial backing. EA like Ubisoft seemed to have taken a gamble with new IP Titanfall, but then again is it much of a gamble when working with Vince Zampella a proven hit driven developer. No doubt EA have plans for Titanfall to be what Call of Duty has become to Activision with Zampella the man behind that particular franchise. The same could be said of Take-Two interactive and their new IP Evolve that is set to release later this year. Not so much a gamble with Turtle Rock at the helm, the same team that was behind the highly successful Left4Dead franchise. These games also seem to be perfectly suited for a host of DLC releases and eventually sequels. It is becoming rarer and rarer that a game will be made with a definitive end point. Modern video games are developed with the sequel in the back of the developers mind or at least at the top end of the industry. When a publisher is given a hit by one of their studios they always want more. The video game fans also playing a part in this, the community endless speculating on sequels and follow ups. With E3 just around the corner the rumour mill is in full effect and rampant speculation abounds.

“E3 could have seen the big revel of the next Assassin’s Creed game if it wasn’t for those pesky internet sleuths leaking the news early. No doubt they will still have a few tricks up their sleeves for the event”

Watch_Dogs wowed fans at E3 2012 and the anticipation for the game only intensified over the following two years. The game has amassed encouraging sales in its first week of release and is surely on its way to recouping the development costs. Ubisoft might have been criticized for making such bold claims about the games future over a year prior to its launch. Most developers and publisher have future vision for their new IP but to come out and state those claims so boldly is not so common. If the games follow up can build upon the original and maintain the fans attention than their maybe hope for the future of the franchise. If not certain Ubisoft executives might have to back track on their previous statements.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Watch Dogs Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“A panel of industry veterans stating the obvious that the PC gaming market is still around and makes a lot of money, not the most startling revelation to come out of PAX East this year.”

One reveal that was probably more highly anticipated than any other was the early gameplay demo of Star Citizen. The most successfully crowd funded game boosting a budget of over $42 million dollars and what do all those backers get for parting with their hard earned cash. What seems to be a fairly standard looking space combat simulator with some fancy graphical HUD elements. Granted this is a game very early on in development with the launch more than likely two or so years away. The game is very impressive from an aesthetic point of view the demonstrator keen to point out various little nuances in the spaceships design. Even down the subtle flaring up of the spaceship thrusters and the neat animations of the pilot when entering his ship. As mundane as this quick demo of the gameplay might seem it wasn’t the same feeling resonating with the crowd present at the event. You could have been mistaken them for an incoherent rabble watching an MMA bout. So for Chris Roberts’s team it seems they have won over their fans which is the important point as they are the ones who funded the game enormous budget.

“So far the media releases for Star Citizen have focused primarily on the space combat aspect with no sign of the trading mechanics yet and PAX East was no different.”

The game that was hoped to have some real hands on access at the event was Watch Dogs a game that is on the market in just over a months’ time. Ubisoft have remained as covert with the marketing for Watch Dogs as the actions of the games main protagonist. The game is one of the most anticipated releases of the year but they have yet to release any solid info about gameplay or the overall narrative. A few videos here and there have been released just enough to keep the gaming community intrigued. However it seems odd for a game so close to its release not to have any sort of hands on presence at an event like this. Maybe Ubisoft feel they don’t need too, seeing as the anticipation for the game is already at fever pitch and will likely sell in big numbers. The QA team back in Montréal better hope they have rid the game of all major bugs because sure enough those game halting glitches will be found soon enough by the gaming community at launch.

“It has nearly been two years since Watch Dogs was first unveiled at E3 2012 but on May 27th it will finally hit the market.”

Games like Star Citizen and Watch Dogs have been doing the rounds in video game press circles for a while now. However one game announcement that came as a surprise was the project to come out of Civilization creators Firaxis Games. Civilization Beyond Earth looks set to be the spiritual successor to the much loved Alpha Centauri title released back in 1999. A brief trailer was shown at their panel and was met with great fanfare, not least because this isn’t just some concept piece it has a Fall 2014 release date. Notwithstanding the fact that such ambiguous release dates often end up getting pushed back, there might be hope to see some fleshed out gameplay at the E3 in a few months. Another game that is set to have a Fall release date was Evolve. The new multiplayer title from the Left4Dead team that have re-established Turtle Rock Studios after breaking away from Valve. The game bears some resemblance to their previous work with a team of four players fighting together against an enemy assailant. Although instead it been an unending horde of zombies it one giant monster that is player controlled, making it a PvP 4 on 1 situation. The game development itself it a rocky patch when its original publisher THQ filed for bankruptcy, with the games rights sold off to 2K Games for $10 million. Now the game in nearing completion and attendees at the event where able to get to grips with some of the basic gameplay features.

“A chance to explore the final frontiers with updated graphics and improved AI, Civilization Beyond Earth is personally the most exciting announcement so far this year.”

Other notable announcements to come over the weekend included the first batch of DLC for Titanfall that will move the battlefield into the Jungle. A new Borderlands game that will be a prequel to the series and a trailer showing off the latest game from the mind of Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, The Evil Within.  The main release window for the video game industry spans over a three to four month period in the winter. So an event that takes place in early April is never going to see as many announcements and reveals as the conventions that take place later in the year. It’s still early in the year with the probability of a number of other high profile announcements coming over the next few months quite high. Not just at conventions like E3 or PAX Prime but as was seen in the case of Assassin’s Creed Unity unofficial leaks that are quickly turned around as a PR opportunity. The video gaming community is ravenous with hunger for any sort of video game news even if it is just buggy alpha gameplay or a few scant screenshots. They want to know about it and it is this desire for constant development updates that drive the various video game conventions that fill the annual calendar, PAX East no exception.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post PAX East Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.