Home Gaming Ubisoft wants to run the same engine on all hardware

Ubisoft wants to run the same engine on all hardware

2 min read
24

The Division

If there’s one thing that Ubisoft is good at, it’s recycling gameplay engines. Sure, it can look cheap and old sometimes, but hey, it’s also great for keeping costs down on games with budgets so big, you could afford to buy several African countries with the cash, pave them over and sell them to the Chinese as a parking lot and I’m drifting again! Ubisoft has a new gameplay engine coming up. And it’s going to be everywhere within the next couple of years.

Speaking with GI International, Ubisoft managing director Nicolas Rioux explained that he expects the company to have “mostly the same engine running on tablet and the main console,” within the next three to four years.

“In the future, it will be easier for us to provide this kind of experience,” Rioux said, adding that he also felt that the addition of a second screen would be a more common extension of games in the future, whether they be console peripherals, tablets or smartphones.

What I like in second-screen play is its accessibility, which means different types of people can play. Those who don’t know how to play with the [controller] or don’t like to play with it can use touch. So that’s the first good element.

It gives you an opportunity to play from outside the home with your friends who are playing from their homes. So I’m in an airport, and I can play with my friends using my iPad if I have a good connection. We think this is going to open lots of new possibilities to the industry, and to the type of gameplay that can occur.

Rioux also felt that this new manner of gaming, wouldn’t alienate current gamers, as the full experience of a game would still be available on their chosen platform. “For the person playing on the tablet, maybe for him that game is more accessible. Honestly, we give the players new opportunities,” Rioux said.

It’s not a big issue for console players to play the tablet version to have a more complete experience. I’m a console player and a gamer on tablets; for me to have these new possibilities is not a constraint.

It’s not a bad idea in theory, but it’s also an ide that needs to feel like more than just a quick gimmick. Take Bayonetta 2 for instance. I loved that I could play the game on the smaller Wii U screen, even if it was a touch too easy with the touch pad controls.

But it does expand a game. And honestly, more gamers on whatever platform isn’t a bad thing at all.

Last Updated: July 4, 2013

24 Comments

  1. OVG

    July 4, 2013 at 13:38

    That is why the games are never the deciding factor when buying a console. The ports all look the same.

    Another gen with on PAR competition. Makes sense to buy the cheaper console.

    Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      July 4, 2013 at 14:06

      but less convenient to order a pizza. trollol

      Reply

      • OVG

        July 4, 2013 at 14:17

        and control your game using your penis.

        Reply

        • Trevor Davies

          July 4, 2013 at 14:49

          You can get a penis with your pizza, I saw it on the internet.

          Reply

  2. TiMsTeR1033

    July 4, 2013 at 13:38

    Damn that game looks good!

    Reply

  3. Sir Twakkus

    July 4, 2013 at 13:40

    I feel you buddy… woe the master race!

    Reply

  4. Theo Steenekamp

    July 4, 2013 at 13:44

    Most ION headers dont look as good as this game.

    Reply

    • Lourens Jordaan

      July 4, 2013 at 13:49

      Agreed. I’ve got that shot as a desktop background.

      Reply

  5. TiMsTeR1033

    July 4, 2013 at 13:49

    why is jeff goldblum in this picture too?

    Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      July 4, 2013 at 13:53

      cos it’s independence day

      Reply

      • RinceWind

        July 4, 2013 at 13:56

        The aliens are coming!

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          July 4, 2013 at 13:57

          there been aliens working with cia ect for years mark my words

          Reply

          • RinceWind

            July 4, 2013 at 14:00

            You know it man! Foilhat, engage!

        • Trevor Davies

          July 4, 2013 at 13:57

          grab your macbooks!

          Reply

          • TiMsTeR1033

            July 4, 2013 at 13:58

            like aliens want that….

          • RinceWind

            July 4, 2013 at 14:00

            Yeah! And that was a first edition, imagine what we could do now? We could play Dead Space while killing actual aliens. And when we get swarmed, we casually ask the aliens if they want to purchase something through micro transactions. When they see that shit they’ll fly home

          • Trevor Davies

            July 4, 2013 at 14:05

            yes, and tell them that even though they bought it, it’s not actually theirs, they’re just renting it – & the 4,054,322 page EULA they signed now says we own their ships.

          • RinceWind

            July 4, 2013 at 14:07

            Haha Yeah. They’d be like ‘any civilization that can survive on T&Cs like that must be near god like in its arrogance’ and then get the hell out of our solar system.

    • Major Commodore 64 Darryn B

      July 4, 2013 at 14:01

      It’s Bill Pullman dammit!

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        July 4, 2013 at 14:02

        well if he wasnt such a blur I could tell

        Reply

      • Tauriq Moosa

        July 5, 2013 at 23:21

        Dont you mean Bill Paxton?

        Reply

  6. Trevor Davies

    July 4, 2013 at 13:52

    It IS always better.

    Reply

  7. Charles Du Plessis

    July 4, 2013 at 13:54

    can’t wait for this game and I for one love the interconnectivity of things these day and this is another awesome example.

    Reply

  8. RinceWind

    July 4, 2013 at 13:56

    I like the idea of this to be honest. Give the options, they will come…

    Reply

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