Operating on the idea that the market currently runs in a “blockbuster world,” Ubisoft will not develop a game unless they feel they can build a franchise on it, according to a recent interview with senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key on A List Daily.
Key said that last fall’s Assassin’s Creed 3 included the largest marketing campaign the company has ever launched, but that it “doesn’t feel so big any more.” The company now sets the game’s campaign as a precedent, and will apply the “blockbuster” approach to upcoming titles Assassin’s Creed 4 and Watch Dogs.
When asked, Key said that the company views Watch Dogs as the foundation of a larger franchise, something the company keeps in mind when deliberating game ideas.
“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,” he said. “There’s no more fire and forget — it’s too expensive.
“We feel like we’re in a really good place with Watch Dogs, but until we’re the biggest game of the year we’re not going to be satisfied,” he added. “Last year we cleaned up at E3 because we were pretty much the only next-gen game around. Watch Dogs for us is really a franchise because we’re tapping into something people really care about, never more than when the NSA PRISM scandal broke.”