Assassin's Creed dev feels "it's time for our medium to grow up"
Ubisoft Toronto boss and former Assassin's Creed lead Jade Raymond has called on the games industry to get over its reliance on big dumb blockbusters.
"I really do feel it's time for our medium to grow up," Raymond told CVG.
"I think we don't need to make the equivalent to a Michael Bay flick in order to sell five million copies. I think things can be exciting, have meaning and hit important topics, and I'm not the only one that thinks that."
Raymond said some major franchises are pushing to be more meaningful and interesting, which was one of Ubisoft's goals with Assassin's Creed - and hopefully, for future projects.
"It's definitely something that we're pushing for at Ubisoft Toronto. I think every other entertainment medium or art form does manage to have commercial success and have the viewers or audience think or be inspired," he said.
"Games, I think, have even more potential than that given that on top of the narrative side we do have all of the gameplay mechanics and we create rule sets from scratch which can have any kind of meaning embedded in them. It's not easy to do that, because it requires breaking our recipe and trying to find new recipes, but I think it's an important thing for us to strive for."
Ubisoft Toronto, which Raymond was asked to build up as a new triple-A studio with 800 staff, is working on the next Splinter Cell game in addition to an original IP; the new project is due to be announced soon. Hit the link above for a lengthy read on the studio's culture, Raymond's approach to IP design, the Assassin's Creed legacy, and more.