"We have to get ready for the next generation of consoles" - Guillemot

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is steadily increasing its headcount to be ready for the launch of the next round of videogames consoles.

The French publishing giant is determined to make sure that it is at the forefront of the market whenever new technology is released, despite the risks involved in putting that investment together.

"What we've seen is that there are still lots of opportunities in this industry, and we have to get ready for the next generation of consoles," he explained. "I know each time I say that, everybody says that we don't know when they will come... but what we've seen is that when you don't actually have enough creators to make the games when the new consoles start, you can't take the time or have enough energy to use the capacity of those consoles.

"So the goal is really to try to be there with a good team that's capable of using all the potential of those new consoles."

Ubisoft has unveiled two new super-studios in the past year or so, one in Singapore set to grow to 400 people and one in Toronto with a 700-person capacity - a strategy that's contrasted with the likes of Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony and THQ, companies which have all shed staff and trimmed down in the past nine months.

"For sure, it's a risk," he went on. "What I've seen all the way in this industry is that without risk you have less success. You have to take risk to have a chance to succeed.

"I believe that this industry will continue to grow fast, and that it will be a very large industry. I think it interactive entertainment will grow in picking up the businesses that are around, like the movie industry did a long time ago.

"That's why we believe it's time to invest, because it's the right time to continue to expand the brands we're creating, and to make better games. Because we wanted to come here this year with another level of quality.

"On some products last year we were not as happy as we wanted, so this time we've been investing more to make sure that everybody will be happy with the games that we launch."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...oles-guillemot