this is why the industry is shit, a lack of Jerrels. No moral grandstanding, no snarky comments, no unwanted sass, just normal business oriented consultancy
@@sungrandstudios Chief, you think you can take a look at this indie game called Atlyss? I don't usually go out of my way asking for stuff like this, but I'd like this game to get the recognition it deserves. It's kind of a Zelda 64/ Hades / Souls-like/ MMORPG with excellent ps1-n64 like graphics and PLENTY of options for character creation.
You see, when a *_GAMING studio_* are NO LONGER owned by *_Gamers_* themselves and are kicked & replaced by someone is NOT a Gamer *(Greedy Businessman corporate or Activists)* that's where a Gaming studio fails, collapses and shuts down!
@@PhantomGBthe problem is indie devs will make a banger then get bought out by AAA that turns their next product to slop. Every studio that has made a great product has gone through this, arcane, Bungie, etc. make a great product, get sucked in with financial inducement and then push out their agenda.
Maybe or maybe not but soon all game companies that went a bit batty need to quit pandering to stupid crap but the so called message of modern audience and forced dei to going back to the old days of listen to fans and true gamers and making actual cash instead of the esg scores but also hiring actual talented writers, coders, storytellers and etc. Also sbi is stupid too.
Thank you for the invite to this open meeting to fix Ubisoft and these other gaming companies Jerrel 😊🙏🏽 I appreciate your expert analysis but I think the true solution is these companies seek you for consulting as you know the gaming community wants and needs. I tell you I barely play PS5 nowadays for gaming because things aren't interesting from AAA games. Thankfully indie games exist. Thanks for the video.
I may potentially start taking on consultancy work for these companies if the timing and environment looks right. I have a number of game projects I would like to finish and ship first.
@psibug565 haha yeah you're right! I definitely need to play Black Myth Wukong and play the full version of stellar blade. Those two games definitely kept Sony afloat in their gaming division. I did play the Stellar Blade demo and I really enjoyed that 😁 Thanks for the comment
Remember one additional aspect of what's destroying them. Enforcing an atmosphere of toxic positivity. This has lead even skilled devs to be limited in how they can effect or improve the game. If they say anything not positive, they are let go from their position (even if they're correct) Side note: if they ever get their crap together again, I'd love to see remasters of the Splinter Cell series (especially the first few) and Far Cry
You sound like the most business-oriented person on the internet I have ever met. Sony, Ubisoft, Activision, anyone hire this man! He will help you tremendously!
I am a customer that Ubisoft has forgotten. What really hammered this point home for me is that I was talking to my mother recently, and I ranted a little bit about how Ubisoft is in shambles and she actually seemed sad. She said that they had made some of my favorite games and was surprised to hear they weren't doing well. My mother remembered how much I loved those games. She probably wouldn't have remembered the titles, but she got me many games with that Ubisoft label when I was young. My favorites were in the original xbox era from them. Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six. Splinter Cell. Also Prince of Persia. They are who started my love for Tactical Shooters. I had Ghost Recon on xbox and on PC. It never ran very well on the toaster we had but i kept playing anyway. Ubisoft doesn't make anything that I would like anymore. No true tactical shooters. Prince of Persia cancelled and replaced by some sidescroller without the prince. All they do is release the same watered down Assassin's Creed crap over and over. Ubisoft has forgotten me... but it's not like I've gone anywhere.
I love this guy's veiled sarcasm. It's valid consulting advice, but also stuff that ought to be obvious to every single executive at a game development business.
And may I add . When remastering, not to alter the scripts, the art direction, design of characters or the world or adlib lines to accommodate "modern sensibilities"
The fact that an indie developer has to say this, is already a shame. They need to fall hard...er to understand the simplest and most basic of concepts. You are de goat.
@@sungrandstudios Ubisoft is done. Nier: Automata is one of the best and most impactful video games ever created in my opinion. I have never before seen such an insult to the art of another developer in the gaming industry.
@srex117 Listen, tastes are different, but calling one of the maybe best stories in video games history plus one of the best endings "not so good" is something i hear rarely. The internet is full of videos and articles analyzing the story of that game and that has a reason. It literally is a game about life, death and the possible meaning of it all. It's full of philosophy and there's a lot to discuss about it. I guess you have never played it to ending E, because the game doesn't end after the end credits, they are just endings of chapters.
The industry needs to listen to more people like you, Jerrel. Also those are some amazing credentials, not gonna lie! Game development, music, consultation for multiple companies! What don't you do LOL Thanks for the video, man!
You know I’ll say this. If this game came out 10-7 years ago there would probably not be any or at least a lot less controversy about this game but because we’ve seen the red flags in movies, games, comics and more all before and we can recognize. One thing I personally believe they could have done is don’t make it an AC game. Make it a game closer to DMC, Deadpool , and lollipop Chainsaw lean more into historical inaccuracy and make it more fun. Good reference look at Samurai Champloo and Afro samurai and just ignore strict history but make the game cool add humor make it more lighthearted and you could have had an absolute banger of a game I know I would have played
Heard they had a kunoichi as the other lead, an Afro Samurai styled hero teamed up with a gal styled like a Senran Kagura heroine, with the action gameplay mentioned by OP could have been a winning combination.
But Ubisoft always claims AC games as "historically accurate". The problem with that is they have to actually do research and put effort into the game for it to be truly historically accurate. I think I know a decent amount about Japanese culture and history. I'm no expert at all, but I know significantly more than most people on the street. When I decided to start writing a book based on historical Japan, I chose to set in in a fantasy world inspired by Japan. I didn't want to bungle anything and offend anyone, so I made a fantasy world where I can be anachronistic and play around with things.
@@fattiger6957 I don't know if they can claim AC games as "Historically Accurate" to be honest. Considering even in the second game we fight a Pope that wields a magical staff.
@@fattiger6957 I'm a bit confused. Your reply seems to argue the point as well as agree with it at the same time. That's what @Riseofziggy was saying, don't try to make it historically accurate, and don't call it an AC game. Just make it about a Black Samurai, similar to other fictional black samurais like Afro Samurai. That way they can be a lot more creative with it and don't have to make any claims about its historical accuracy.
@@nicholasradityaputrawisesa3593 all the non-historical stuff in AC games has always been the Assassin vs Templar conflict and the Isu. Other than that, it’s known for a high attention to detail to history in its characters and settings.
Ubisoft already wants to make 10 assassin's creed games within five years. And their next game assassin's creed hexe is filled with a focus on LGBT and feminist messages and has nothing that appeals to the gamer audience, I just want to have fun with video games, not be preached at.
@Fleshbag453that's true, you got to be careful with the indies as well. But don't worry I got a bunch of older/slightly older games I'm getting ready to play! Dynasty warriors 8 Xtreme, DMC 3 switch version, Dark souls 3, Nioh 2, hollow knight, and this old RPG called Xanadu next! If you got some recommendations feel free to share, or if you need recommendations feel free to ask!
Well, admitting there's a problem is the first step to recovery...which is more than KI thought I would ever see from Ubisoft. I know it may seem very weird to say, but gamers don't always want a game to fail. In fact, right now, Ubisoft making a game that people would have fun with would be the biggest, most welcome surprise for them right now. Seriously, it would be awesome if Ubisoft made a game that everyone had a good time with. *Make a game. Not a statement wearing a game.* There are a lot of old Tom Clancy games that would be great to see remastered. I personally would like to see the Rainbow Six Vegas games get a remaster. Seriously, the whole making enemies out of the customers thing is getting real old, it has been for years now. Treat your employees well, treat your customers well, and the shareholder satisfaction will follow suit.
The only "flaw" of this vide is that at 3:45 you could have included so many more examples of DEI-focused failures: Saints Row reboot, Forespoken, "Sooyside" Squad "Ends" the Justice League (I hate RUclips censorship so much), Concord, Dustborn ... millions of dollars and thousands of dev hours just to produce sub-par games nobody wanted. Thank you for making these classy and well-spoken videos, man. The game industry might hate it, but I certainly appreciate what you're doing! ❤ When did sensible and passionate people like you become so rare to find in the industry?
I agree with you. Thank you for posting those examples. I wanted to post more examples but thought it may disrupt the flow of the presentation. Let's all work together to get the games industry back on track.
I love the tie. It’s a very dapper style. It shows more professionalism along with your presentation than we’ve been able to get from these big game companies. On a related note, I still play heroes of might and magic three. I love that game. I would definitely play a mobile version.
Could you imagine if Ubisoft made a new Splinter Cell game that was on the same/higher quality level as Chaos Theory? It could absolutely happen if they follow this kind of advice.
It's funny how you are spot on in everything you listed here, according to Côté they themselves are aware of many of them, and yet they willingly choose to sink their company instead of making the changes you proposed.
You don't understand... Jerrel's consultation whether free or paid is useless since they get no ESG score points on it... And without ESG, no investment money comes in. That's why they use "consultants" like SBI since they give ESG points...
From what I've seen in the games industry, it's not even the rank and file developers that are the problem. They are typically still hired based on whether they have the necessary skill to do the job or not. The problems come in with the producers and designers, where there's a lot more floatiness in evaluating their skills and where executives that are disconnected from actual players can be bamboozled into green-lighting crap. Dev teams will usually just follow whatever guidance the game designers give them, whether they agree with it or not, and the larger the company is, the more likely they are to fail to listen to the concerns of their rank-and-file devs regarding game design, if they don't disenfranchise them in that regard entirely. That producer level is also where people are most likely to be able to get their friends hired to help them spread the culture they want, and when they dictate changes in direction, often for no good reason, they can and do waste huge amounts of dev time in the process. The real issue is companies like Ubisoft need executives that can better evaluate the quality of the producers and designers they hire, but that would require them to see players as more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.
Also, Someone that knows, loves, or at least respects the source material, and fanbase. It's extremely important. Lots of games and media flop despite havig clear talent working in many areas because they simply despise and want to replace both source and fanbase.
Nail on head: you need the best person you find to do the job. Who that person is should not matter, but they have to be the best person you can find to do the job at the time. Positive discrimination in the workplace is still discrimination in the workplace; it is in fact negative discrimination. I fought for equal rights to stop negative discrimination due to race, creed, sex, sexuality, etc. Now we see race and sex once more being discriminated against.
I've been a die hard AC fan since the first game released, so nearly 20 years at this point (which is crazy). I have played and nearly if not fully 100% every game. I can tell you a specific moment that I started to notice the quality in the companies thinking diminish. Ubisoft used to have this online merch platform called ubiworkshop where they sold really high quality merch. Hoodies that came straight from the game, themed jackets, limited novelty items. I at one point had a 1 of I think 500 Jacob Frye real leather jacket that I purchased for like $600 (I sold it eventually cause I lost over 100 pounds and it didnt fit anymore). Anyway, somewhere around like 2019-2020 they transitioned from cool and unique merch to mass produced cheap garbage. Printed t-shirts, that sort of stuff. To me, this was a representation of the companies design philosophy shifting. They no longer cared about the art, the product, what they were delivering to people. It was about money, it was about the brand. Now, I did enjoy AC Valhalla, the last main title in the series, but I didnt like Mirage, and I am worried about shadows.
My Opinion: Although gamers want to see companies put out good games (duh!), I personally feel that some AAA Gaming Companies MUST fail in order for there be enough fear to motivate the changes in the remaining companies that gamers demand. If this doesn't occur, then ALL AAA Gaming Companies will collapse, as nobody will purchase their crap games. So, altho I never like to cheer when a company fails, I see it as a step towards ultimate success for the industry.
Man.. I know you hate putting on the tie for addressing these things, but thank you for being the adult in the room, Jerrel; thank you for putting what I and many others have been saying since this all started into words. Hah... it's so depressing, the place the AAA industry is at, nowadays, isn't it? Still... I am hopeful. Though it's going to go through some growing pains, and some companies will fall as they cling to their old ways, I do believe it will recover eventually, even if it may look very different from how it once did. Anyway, cheers for making the video--I wish I had your eloquent way of speaking, instead I tend to panic and get worked up too easily, even in front of a camera or on a mic. So, I hope you and all your viewers have a pleasant day, mate... cheers, again.
They should hire an honest gaming fan. Someone who's willing to tell the truth, someone who cares about the stories from the past, and wants to see them flourish and respected.
Thanks for you consultation, make sure you get paid well for the next ones! If only they got that information before the disastrous fails they created in this year, eventually they would not have lost millions of dollars
Another thing that could be added are management and good working process, especially for companies with hundreds of developers and multiple studios. You can have the most skilled developers in the world, but if they are caught in the process of asking for clearance from their managers to change or add something in the game (in which the manager need to ask their higher ups, and the higher ups need to ask their higher ups), then that talent would go to waste as it took forever to get things done.
Problem with remakes is that they don't refine them. They remove the thing that make that game, that game, and replace it for a trendy mechanic or add censorship, de-making the game in the process.
@@sungrandstudios It's so silly to me that fan-made remakes are generally better. I guess that's just the nature of using someone who wants to insert their own creative vision, instead of reproducing the original.
Wasted breath. Both the CEO of Ubisoft and director of Shadows acknowledged that this is the core problem and stated their commitment to continuing with it. They know how to save it, they actively refuse to, whether they believe they can weather the storm or whether as the rumors imply they are trying to manipulate stock value to regain control of the company, that is unknown, but they know exactly how to save the studio and the franchise, they do not want to.
Its funny you say that Ubisoft doing an older IP will be cheap and customer brand boosting...... but didn't they recently put out TWO Prince of Persia games and still can't even get out that remake of the first one on PS2 back in the day? So, no, they can't even accomplish that without doing huge money wasting and damage to the brand. But I guess what you are saying is GET SOMEBODY COMPETENT to do just that, which means, yeah you are correct. Great video by the way. Love the fact you mentioned Driver :)
2 Options Option 1: Make the Black Guy DLC after main story Option 2: Make the whole original game DLC, and make a new main game with just a male Japanese of origin protag.
As a former blue-hair haver I feel the need to reclaim blue hair back from those who give it a bad name. Blue hair is cute. But it's just hair. It doesn't and shouldn't signify anything other than the desire to have a funny and cute hair color. Just needed to put it out there cause everyone else already has me covered about the real issue here.
As for bringing older games to modern platforms, they had plans to do this for a long time when they realized their games weren't going to be a hit, but I doubt their financial situation would allow them to sustain it.
If they have inexperienced, incompetent staff, it would be very difficult and expensive to port or enhance. With expert level developers, it would cost far less and go much faster.
anual reviews and pier reviews, although annoying (uugh it's that time of the year again...), are essential to maintain a level of quality within a company not only by ensuring that everyone maintains a consistent level of efficiency, but also to know when someone isn't doing well either emotionally or psychologically. i've seen this happen often, people get burnt out easily in this industry, especially programmers, and need to take some time off or switch projects. it's far better to give an employee some time to recover than it is to keep them continuously get burnt out and mentally drained. as a consequence their work quality will drop, which means other people will have to pick up the scraps, which will slow down and drag everyone else down
Imagine a remake of Rayman 3. Yoy know a fun game with variety in gameplay, a killer ost and great characters. Especially the "big" bad (if you know, you know).
i don't know he is just joking around or not, but i hope it's true! bring back our old good boy. we use to be love ubisoft, just like when they released the pop warrior within.
I remember automating research for a biomechanics department at a university - my background is in design not programming. Problem was I was manic as fuck and not capable of the work consistently - it hurt a lot but I realized I couldn't make a career out of it - even though I loved the work - and shifted off the field. I think this pretty much goes for activists and writing - except they've never had a win and won't have the self-awareness to pull back and say someone else is better suited. In the end it helped my life to forgo - and it'll help theirs but it will have to be forced, I hazard a guess.
To quote Seymour Skinner from the Simpsons… “Am I so out of touch? No. No, it’s the kids who are.” Top Executives who cannot accept the reality of the situation is the second biggest problem in Ubisoft, as evident by their badly thought out response to their financial situation by introducing battle passes for the upcoming Assassin’s Greed title. No genuine outreach to their consumers, just keep milking the fans for all they’re worth like they have been doing for all these years.
It's one thing to miss; it's another to miss by so wide a margin that you cannot even see your target audience on the horizon. Just how far gone are they?
@@DarrylCross Well I really did some consultant job, like Jerrel did, with a big gaming publisher and I wanna answer this question a bit seriously. First you should know that department of management, department of marketing, department of PR/consulting and department of gaming development are separated, cause that company is too big ; second, people in every different department have different job, lot of them has no experience on video game or gaming industry. Obviously, when these people get together to serve video games, there's going to be some chaos. So if we know how little these employees know about video games and gaming industry, we can realize how far they've gone. And I can tell you, some of these were ridiculously far away from video game, gaming industry and gamers.
Little did we know, The folks at Blackrock love playing the games us gamers hate. Of course that's especially shocking considering the increasing performance issues and game breaking bugs. Despite that, somehow, they love them.
this is why the industry is shit, a lack of Jerrels. No moral grandstanding, no snarky comments, no unwanted sass, just normal business oriented consultancy
The real consultancy that matters!!
I want to see these game companies succeed and make good games for my fellow gamers... But also for me too. I also want the good games.
there's a small amount of sass. i dig it.
@@sungrandstudios Chief, you think you can take a look at this indie game called Atlyss? I don't usually go out of my way asking for stuff like this, but I'd like this game to get the recognition it deserves. It's kind of a Zelda 64/ Hades / Souls-like/ MMORPG with excellent ps1-n64 like graphics and PLENTY of options for character creation.
I really wish I could have expressed these sentiments better,. but I can't. These are my exact feelings Jerrel, Dark.
The sad part is. Everything you say is logical and commonsense. Which means they will ignore you. I would hire you as my consultant.
We can hope other developers will see where Ubisoft went wrong and avoid making the same mistakes.
@@sungrandstudios Indie game devs are the future if things keep going the ubusoft way.
You see, when a *_GAMING studio_* are NO LONGER owned by *_Gamers_* themselves and are kicked & replaced by someone is NOT a Gamer *(Greedy Businessman corporate or Activists)* that's where a Gaming studio fails, collapses and shuts down!
@@PhantomGBthe problem is indie devs will make a banger then get bought out by AAA that turns their next product to slop. Every studio that has made a great product has gone through this, arcane, Bungie, etc. make a great product, get sucked in with financial inducement and then push out their agenda.
@@winchesterkid Bungie was never indie. It had funding from Apple first to make Halo an exclusive then Microsoft bought it.
now this is the type of consultation game companies should be hiring!
Do you see blue hair anywhere? That's why they won't hire people like Jerrel.
@@friedrichjunzt I don't see pronouns either ! 😂
Not happening he's a man
Everyone remember, we're called waycist by supporting a Pacific Islander with a nice ponytail and interesting instruments.
We are the sensible ones. We are the normal people who just want to play a game for fun.
...and a fkn awesome collection of ties.
@@rolytnz I don't mention it because I'm jealous
He’s making sense
Maybe or maybe not but soon all game companies that went a bit batty need to quit pandering to stupid crap but the so called message of modern audience and forced dei to going back to the old days of listen to fans and true gamers and making actual cash instead of the esg scores but also hiring actual talented writers, coders, storytellers and etc. Also sbi is stupid too.
@Fleshbag453 Soon they will. Not because they want to, but because they have to.
Jerrel for D.O.G.E. Department Of Gaming Efficiency.
Doge died this year and I feel some degree of sadness.
@@sungrandstudios doge will never die in the hearts of the internet
@@sungrandstudiossuch heart, much sadness.
Doge is always in our hearts. Gone but not forgotten.
@sungrandstudios well how about D.E.I instead? Department of Entertainment Integrity
Department Of Gaming Excellence.
You know shit is serious when this guy pulls out the suit!
I see the suit, I know this guy means business.
This man commands respect 🙏
A Power Suit to rival Stark Industries!
thats the grift
For short: hire the competent people.
And make a simple small budget game to gain back some capital for a bigger game.
seriously, every problem came up because it's not the competent people being hired. do hr ever relevant even
Thank you for the invite to this open meeting to fix Ubisoft and these other gaming companies Jerrel 😊🙏🏽 I appreciate your expert analysis but I think the true solution is these companies seek you for consulting as you know the gaming community wants and needs. I tell you I barely play PS5 nowadays for gaming because things aren't interesting from AAA games. Thankfully indie games exist. Thanks for the video.
I may potentially start taking on consultancy work for these companies if the timing and environment looks right. I have a number of game projects I would like to finish and ship first.
@sungrandstudios sounds like a plan and hopefully you'll have physical copies for your games one day too 😁
Black Myth WuKong and Stellar Blade would be a couple of good games on PS5. I believe these saved Sony from the hole they dug with Concord.
@psibug565 haha yeah you're right! I definitely need to play Black Myth Wukong and play the full version of stellar blade. Those two games definitely kept Sony afloat in their gaming division. I did play the Stellar Blade demo and I really enjoyed that 😁 Thanks for the comment
CEO of Gaming is back with another solid advice!
Seeing you act so professional is such a breath of fresh air. I forgot need what its like to see after these past twelve years or so.
Better then a Ted talk.
Ubisoft won't listen though.
Indeed they won't. The whole company is already infested with woke activists, on every level.
He should apply for that. Given some of the Ted Talks I've seen, it can't be that hard to get in.
My man here giving free professional advice free of charge. But at this point i think the slop is still going to flop, even god cant save them.
which is fine, our hands are clean, we already told them what kind of games we want, and this gentleman gives free professional advice
Remember one additional aspect of what's destroying them. Enforcing an atmosphere of toxic positivity. This has lead even skilled devs to be limited in how they can effect or improve the game. If they say anything not positive, they are let go from their position (even if they're correct)
Side note: if they ever get their crap together again, I'd love to see remasters of the Splinter Cell series (especially the first few) and Far Cry
Jerrel somewhat covered this when he said "no yes-men".
He did mention not being a Yes Man.
You sound like the most business-oriented person on the internet I have ever met. Sony, Ubisoft, Activision, anyone hire this man! He will help you tremendously!
I am a customer that Ubisoft has forgotten. What really hammered this point home for me is that I was talking to my mother recently, and I ranted a little bit about how Ubisoft is in shambles and she actually seemed sad. She said that they had made some of my favorite games and was surprised to hear they weren't doing well.
My mother remembered how much I loved those games. She probably wouldn't have remembered the titles, but she got me many games with that Ubisoft label when I was young.
My favorites were in the original xbox era from them. Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six. Splinter Cell. Also Prince of Persia. They are who started my love for Tactical Shooters. I had Ghost Recon on xbox and on PC. It never ran very well on the toaster we had but i kept playing anyway.
Ubisoft doesn't make anything that I would like anymore. No true tactical shooters. Prince of Persia cancelled and replaced by some sidescroller without the prince. All they do is release the same watered down Assassin's Creed crap over and over.
Ubisoft has forgotten me... but it's not like I've gone anywhere.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I was also one of their long time customers that they have alienated.
It would really be interesting to see if they'll heed this advice, but knowing Ubisoft, probably unlikely.
I love this guy's veiled sarcasm. It's valid consulting advice, but also stuff that ought to be obvious to every single executive at a game development business.
And may I add .
When remastering, not to alter the scripts, the art direction, design of characters or the world or adlib lines to accommodate "modern sensibilities"
And FIX those old known bugs! You can still find them in old forums from ages past.
Looking at you TQ nordic.
The fact that an indie developer has to say this, is already a shame. They need to fall hard...er to understand the simplest and most basic of concepts. You are de goat.
Thank you President of Gaming. I was looking for something to watch.
Hope you enjoyed the video.
@sungrandstudios always do, good advice on making a mobile to just get some cash infusion.
After seeing what Ubisoft did to 2B from Nier: Automata i know it's over. Nothing can help them anymore.
That was... Shocking.
It is funny people missed that until now. That happened months ago I believe but just getting attention now.
@@sungrandstudios Ubisoft is done. Nier: Automata is one of the best and most impactful video games ever created in my opinion. I have never before seen such an insult to the art of another developer in the gaming industry.
@@MarkusFFFF Lol Nier Automata didnt impact anything. It was just good action game with not so good story, typical for 95% other Action Games.
@srex117 Listen, tastes are different, but calling one of the maybe best stories in video games history plus one of the best endings "not so good" is something i hear rarely. The internet is full of videos and articles analyzing the story of that game and that has a reason. It literally is a game about life, death and the possible meaning of it all. It's full of philosophy and there's a lot to discuss about it. I guess you have never played it to ending E, because the game doesn't end after the end credits, they are just endings of chapters.
The industry needs to listen to more people like you, Jerrel.
Also those are some amazing credentials, not gonna lie! Game development, music, consultation for multiple companies! What don't you do LOL Thanks for the video, man!
Ubislop: "Sorry bud. Best I can do is call our customers incels"🤷🏻♀️
Also to note: calling them racists or [insert descriptor]phobes will cost extra due to budget cuts.
God bless your endeavors, with professionalism and deep knowledge we may win the many battles to come against the vandals.
Let's work together and get the industry back on track.
that advise is way to sane and productive to ever be considered by ubisoft
That's a shame. Maybe it will be useful to other developers or publishers out there.
You know I’ll say this. If this game came out 10-7 years ago there would probably not be any or at least a lot less controversy about this game but because we’ve seen the red flags in movies, games, comics and more all before and we can recognize. One thing I personally believe they could have done is don’t make it an AC game. Make it a game closer to DMC, Deadpool , and lollipop Chainsaw lean more into historical inaccuracy and make it more fun. Good reference look at Samurai Champloo and Afro samurai and just ignore strict history but make the game cool add humor make it more lighthearted and you could have had an absolute banger of a game I know I would have played
Heard they had a kunoichi as the other lead, an Afro Samurai styled hero teamed up with a gal styled like a Senran Kagura heroine, with the action gameplay mentioned by OP could have been a winning combination.
But Ubisoft always claims AC games as "historically accurate". The problem with that is they have to actually do research and put effort into the game for it to be truly historically accurate.
I think I know a decent amount about Japanese culture and history. I'm no expert at all, but I know significantly more than most people on the street. When I decided to start writing a book based on historical Japan, I chose to set in in a fantasy world inspired by Japan. I didn't want to bungle anything and offend anyone, so I made a fantasy world where I can be anachronistic and play around with things.
@@fattiger6957 I don't know if they can claim AC games as "Historically Accurate" to be honest. Considering even in the second game we fight a Pope that wields a magical staff.
@@fattiger6957 I'm a bit confused. Your reply seems to argue the point as well as agree with it at the same time. That's what @Riseofziggy was saying, don't try to make it historically accurate, and don't call it an AC game. Just make it about a Black Samurai, similar to other fictional black samurais like Afro Samurai. That way they can be a lot more creative with it and don't have to make any claims about its historical accuracy.
@@nicholasradityaputrawisesa3593 all the non-historical stuff in AC games has always been the Assassin vs Templar conflict and the Isu. Other than that, it’s known for a high attention to detail to history in its characters and settings.
Ubisoft already wants to make 10 assassin's creed games within five years. And their next game assassin's creed hexe is filled with a focus on LGBT and feminist messages and has nothing that appeals to the gamer audience, I just want to have fun with video games, not be preached at.
@Fleshbag453that's true, you got to be careful with the indies as well. But don't worry I got a bunch of older/slightly older games I'm getting ready to play! Dynasty warriors 8 Xtreme, DMC 3 switch version, Dark souls 3, Nioh 2, hollow knight, and this old RPG called Xanadu next! If you got some recommendations feel free to share, or if you need recommendations feel free to ask!
@Fleshbag453I have a very big backlog. I would be okay and have started doing that.
TQ and feminist is an oxymoron, the two are at war with one another the TQ call feminists terfs.
they want to make next 10 AC games
and they ahven't made a good AC game since blackflag
Well, admitting there's a problem is the first step to recovery...which is more than KI thought I would ever see from Ubisoft.
I know it may seem very weird to say, but gamers don't always want a game to fail. In fact, right now, Ubisoft making a game that people would have fun with would be the biggest, most welcome surprise for them right now. Seriously, it would be awesome if Ubisoft made a game that everyone had a good time with. *Make a game. Not a statement wearing a game.*
There are a lot of old Tom Clancy games that would be great to see remastered. I personally would like to see the Rainbow Six Vegas games get a remaster.
Seriously, the whole making enemies out of the customers thing is getting real old, it has been for years now. Treat your employees well, treat your customers well, and the shareholder satisfaction will follow suit.
The only "flaw" of this vide is that at 3:45 you could have included so many more examples of DEI-focused failures: Saints Row reboot, Forespoken, "Sooyside" Squad "Ends" the Justice League (I hate RUclips censorship so much), Concord, Dustborn ... millions of dollars and thousands of dev hours just to produce sub-par games nobody wanted.
Thank you for making these classy and well-spoken videos, man. The game industry might hate it, but I certainly appreciate what you're doing! ❤
When did sensible and passionate people like you become so rare to find in the industry?
I agree with you. Thank you for posting those examples. I wanted to post more examples but thought it may disrupt the flow of the presentation. Let's all work together to get the games industry back on track.
The CEO of gaming has spoken!!👏👏👏
Word.
The fact that this is common sense for everybody except people who run a company
I love the tie. It’s a very dapper style. It shows more professionalism along with your presentation than we’ve been able to get from these big game companies. On a related note, I still play heroes of might and magic three. I love that game. I would definitely play a mobile version.
Could you imagine if Ubisoft made a new Splinter Cell game that was on the same/higher quality level as Chaos Theory? It could absolutely happen if they follow this kind of advice.
That would be incredible.
Thank you so much for your work!!! I really hope Ubisoft & the others will listen.
I haven't heard "Heroes of Might and Magic" for so long! It would be nice to see some updates to some older titles.
Right now I would not buy HoMM precisely because I loved HoMM and MM.
I will just cry about how they destroy it.
📃✍️✍️✍️ time to take notes
It's funny how you are spot on in everything you listed here, according to Côté they themselves are aware of many of them, and yet they willingly choose to sink their company instead of making the changes you proposed.
1:45 That's the definition of Marketing.
Jerrel you don't understand, you have to ask for at least 500k as your consultation fee, otherwise they don't think it's worth it.
Oh, is that what Sweet Baby charges? Whole lot of value they sure provided to the industry.
You don't understand... Jerrel's consultation whether free or paid is useless since they get no ESG score points on it... And without ESG, no investment money comes in. That's why they use "consultants" like SBI since they give ESG points...
The sad part is that the people who need to watch this won't.
Based, Constructive, and Informed advice from a Subject Matter Expert provided in a Concise, Succinct, and Professional manner.
I'm a gamer and I agree with this message.
From what I've seen in the games industry, it's not even the rank and file developers that are the problem. They are typically still hired based on whether they have the necessary skill to do the job or not. The problems come in with the producers and designers, where there's a lot more floatiness in evaluating their skills and where executives that are disconnected from actual players can be bamboozled into green-lighting crap. Dev teams will usually just follow whatever guidance the game designers give them, whether they agree with it or not, and the larger the company is, the more likely they are to fail to listen to the concerns of their rank-and-file devs regarding game design, if they don't disenfranchise them in that regard entirely. That producer level is also where people are most likely to be able to get their friends hired to help them spread the culture they want, and when they dictate changes in direction, often for no good reason, they can and do waste huge amounts of dev time in the process. The real issue is companies like Ubisoft need executives that can better evaluate the quality of the producers and designers they hire, but that would require them to see players as more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.
Ubisoft is lucky to have received this advice for free. I am certain a letter of thanks is on the way.
Also, Someone that knows, loves, or at least respects the source material, and fanbase. It's extremely important. Lots of games and media flop despite havig clear talent working in many areas because they simply despise and want to replace both source and fanbase.
Nail on head: you need the best person you find to do the job. Who that person is should not matter, but they have to be the best person you can find to do the job at the time. Positive discrimination in the workplace is still discrimination in the workplace; it is in fact negative discrimination. I fought for equal rights to stop negative discrimination due to race, creed, sex, sexuality, etc. Now we see race and sex once more being discriminated against.
I've been a die hard AC fan since the first game released, so nearly 20 years at this point (which is crazy). I have played and nearly if not fully 100% every game. I can tell you a specific moment that I started to notice the quality in the companies thinking diminish. Ubisoft used to have this online merch platform called ubiworkshop where they sold really high quality merch. Hoodies that came straight from the game, themed jackets, limited novelty items. I at one point had a 1 of I think 500 Jacob Frye real leather jacket that I purchased for like $600 (I sold it eventually cause I lost over 100 pounds and it didnt fit anymore). Anyway, somewhere around like 2019-2020 they transitioned from cool and unique merch to mass produced cheap garbage. Printed t-shirts, that sort of stuff.
To me, this was a representation of the companies design philosophy shifting. They no longer cared about the art, the product, what they were delivering to people. It was about money, it was about the brand.
Now, I did enjoy AC Valhalla, the last main title in the series, but I didnt like Mirage, and I am worried about shadows.
My Opinion: Although gamers want to see companies put out good games (duh!), I personally feel that some AAA Gaming Companies MUST fail in order for there be enough fear to motivate the changes in the remaining companies that gamers demand. If this doesn't occur, then ALL AAA Gaming Companies will collapse, as nobody will purchase their crap games. So, altho I never like to cheer when a company fails, I see it as a step towards ultimate success for the industry.
Man.. I know you hate putting on the tie for addressing these things, but thank you for being the adult in the room, Jerrel; thank you for putting what I and many others have been saying since this all started into words. Hah... it's so depressing, the place the AAA industry is at, nowadays, isn't it? Still... I am hopeful. Though it's going to go through some growing pains, and some companies will fall as they cling to their old ways, I do believe it will recover eventually, even if it may look very different from how it once did.
Anyway, cheers for making the video--I wish I had your eloquent way of speaking, instead I tend to panic and get worked up too easily, even in front of a camera or on a mic. So, I hope you and all your viewers have a pleasant day, mate... cheers, again.
They should hire an honest gaming fan. Someone who's willing to tell the truth, someone who cares about the stories from the past, and wants to see them flourish and respected.
Our Gaming Union Representative has uploaded another video.
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
Thanks for you consultation, make sure you get paid well for the next ones! If only they got that information before the disastrous fails they created in this year, eventually they would not have lost millions of dollars
You sir are a treasure.
Very well done!
It's probably something you're not widely focused on, but what are your thoughts on a DLC getting into Game of the Year?
Jerrel: Gives logical arguments that will help when apllied
Ubisoft: We will do exactly the opposite
Been saying these things for years now, myself. Guess I need to throw my hat in the ring for consultation services.
Another thing that could be added are management and good working process, especially for companies with hundreds of developers and multiple studios.
You can have the most skilled developers in the world, but if they are caught in the process of asking for clearance from their managers to change or add something in the game (in which the manager need to ask their higher ups, and the higher ups need to ask their higher ups), then that talent would go to waste as it took forever to get things done.
Good point.
"Heroes of might and magic" neuron activated!
Jerrel for president! …Of videogames!
Classic Basic Consultancy 101
I wonder why Ubisoft is behaving like a complete noob. Good video
Problem with remakes is that they don't refine them. They remove the thing that make that game, that game, and replace it for a trendy mechanic or add censorship, de-making the game in the process.
That kind of censorship is a real disappointment and buzzkill factor for games.
@@sungrandstudios It's so silly to me that fan-made remakes are generally better. I guess that's just the nature of using someone who wants to insert their own creative vision, instead of reproducing the original.
A well spoken, smartly dressed gentleman.
This makes me really want another Onimusha... a female ninja paired with a male samurai (both japanese) was perfect.
The question is, can they actually course correct? Will the investors who require them to incorporate DEI in their processes allow them?
🎉 well said. Well done.❤
Wasted breath. Both the CEO of Ubisoft and director of Shadows acknowledged that this is the core problem and stated their commitment to continuing with it.
They know how to save it, they actively refuse to, whether they believe they can weather the storm or whether as the rumors imply they are trying to manipulate stock value to regain control of the company, that is unknown, but they know exactly how to save the studio and the franchise, they do not want to.
Bro even gave a free consultation 😂 much love to u jerrel
Its funny you say that Ubisoft doing an older IP will be cheap and customer brand boosting...... but didn't they recently put out TWO Prince of Persia games and still can't even get out that remake of the first one on PS2 back in the day?
So, no, they can't even accomplish that without doing huge money wasting and damage to the brand. But I guess what you are saying is GET SOMEBODY COMPETENT to do just that, which means, yeah you are correct.
Great video by the way. Love the fact you mentioned Driver :)
They need actual, experienced and competent developers to handle those remasters and ports. Also, honk if you're a Driver fan.
2 Options
Option 1: Make the Black Guy DLC after main story
Option 2: Make the whole original game DLC, and make a new main game with just a male Japanese of origin protag.
He's providing free great advice!
Well said Mr. Gaming President!
Good video man!
Thanks for that.
A Japanese historian would have made this game gangbusters. I love these massive open world loose historic/mythilogical games.
Agreed. I have a tough time finish big open games because I have too much fun running around not doing the main storyline.
To think they canceled the Black Flag remaster but instead gave us Skull and Bones.
As a former blue-hair haver I feel the need to reclaim blue hair back from those who give it a bad name. Blue hair is cute. But it's just hair. It doesn't and shouldn't signify anything other than the desire to have a funny and cute hair color. Just needed to put it out there cause everyone else already has me covered about the real issue here.
Oh man how I love your videos
Thanks for enjoying the videos.
As for bringing older games to modern platforms, they had plans to do this for a long time when they realized their games weren't going to be a hit, but I doubt their financial situation would allow them to sustain it.
If they have inexperienced, incompetent staff, it would be very difficult and expensive to port or enhance. With expert level developers, it would cost far less and go much faster.
These companies should be paying for this kind of advice, it's a solid, based on reality & constructive consultation.
Right on. Thanks for sharing.
You should start at the top with good hire. Perhaps you should do a video for the share holders or board of management.
Great video !
I don't understand why they refuse to listen to the fans. I truly don't understand.
1:21 wait! "customers" might not mean "gamers". their customers are "modern audience" that don't play games.
they also do not BUY games, and are therefore NOT customers.
Concorde sales proved this.
7:21 some additional content for the last splinter cell game would be amazing. I would pay for that. Just expand and make more 'waves' levels.
The president of the gaming industry speaking, listen
you have connection to camera brands??
i love and use fujifilm .
or you were just joking and i missed the sarcasm.
another great informative video
anual reviews and pier reviews, although annoying (uugh it's that time of the year again...), are essential to maintain a level of quality within a company not only by ensuring that everyone maintains a consistent level of efficiency, but also to know when someone isn't doing well either emotionally or psychologically. i've seen this happen often, people get burnt out easily in this industry, especially programmers, and need to take some time off or switch projects. it's far better to give an employee some time to recover than it is to keep them continuously get burnt out and mentally drained. as a consequence their work quality will drop, which means other people will have to pick up the scraps, which will slow down and drag everyone else down
Imagine a remake of Rayman 3. Yoy know a fun game with variety in gameplay, a killer ost and great characters. Especially the "big" bad (if you know, you know).
Giving all those for free when you could charge them $ . What a generous man that only cares about gamers ❤
I want to see these companies make good games for my fellow gamers... And for me too. I want good games.
i don't know he is just joking around or not, but i hope it's true! bring back our old good boy. we use to be love ubisoft, just like when they released the pop warrior within.
I remember automating research for a biomechanics department at a university - my background is in design not programming. Problem was I was manic as fuck and not capable of the work consistently - it hurt a lot but I realized I couldn't make a career out of it - even though I loved the work - and shifted off the field. I think this pretty much goes for activists and writing - except they've never had a win and won't have the self-awareness to pull back and say someone else is better suited. In the end it helped my life to forgo - and it'll help theirs but it will have to be forced, I hazard a guess.
ezpz: "throw everything you got so far in the trashcan and start all over again"
To quote Seymour Skinner from the Simpsons…
“Am I so out of touch? No. No, it’s the kids who are.”
Top Executives who cannot accept the reality of the situation is the second biggest problem in Ubisoft, as evident by their badly thought out response to their financial situation by introducing battle passes for the upcoming Assassin’s Greed title. No genuine outreach to their consumers, just keep milking the fans for all they’re worth like they have been doing for all these years.
What if the CEO just waiting for his perfect ''golden parachute'' moment to happen. 🤔
That Ubisoft guy said the company is sort of disconnected at the end of the speech so Ubi‘s problem is way worse than we think
It is quite bad. They really need strong, sensible consultants to help them.
It's one thing to miss; it's another to miss by so wide a margin that you cannot even see your target audience on the horizon. Just how far gone are they?
@@sungrandstudios Definitely sir🫡🫡
@@DarrylCross Well I really did some consultant job, like Jerrel did, with a big gaming publisher and I wanna answer this question a bit seriously. First you should know that department of management, department of marketing, department of PR/consulting and department of gaming development are separated, cause that company is too big ; second, people in every different department have different job, lot of them has no experience on video game or gaming industry. Obviously, when these people get together to serve video games, there's going to be some chaos. So if we know how little these employees know about video games and gaming industry, we can realize how far they've gone. And I can tell you, some of these were ridiculously far away from video game, gaming industry and gamers.
Upper management does not work in the realm of logic and reason, it's more like an royal court where the currency is reputation and favors.
But if they did all that what would happen to all those sweet, juicy BlackRock paychecks?
They will have to pick. Gamers or Blackrock. You can't have both.
Little did we know, The folks at Blackrock love playing the games us gamers hate. Of course that's especially shocking considering the increasing performance issues and game breaking bugs. Despite that, somehow, they love them.