While mostly known for a few big franchises today,Ubisofthas been around and publishing games for a while. This includespast Tom Clancy-based gamesand the more humble beginnings of theAssassin’s Creedfranchise.
These days,Ubisofthas a mixed reputation. Many players love the company’s different game series, from its myriad shooter franchises to the modern-day yearly installment juggernaut ofAssassin’s Creed. However, the company is also known for unwholesome microtransactions in its biggest franchises and a series of damning misconduct declarations against its higher-ups that resulted in scandal. Ubisoft encompasses a lot, and now it is putting its brand even more firmly on its titles.
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Ubisoft is officially labeling its internally developed games as “Ubisoft Originals.” This was first made known alongside theannouncement ofThe Division: Heartland, an upcoming free-to-play game taking place in the world ofThe Division. The game’s splash art prominently features “A Ubisoft Original” below the title properly, declaring it to belong to Ubisoft and Ubisoft alone. According to a Ubisoft spokesman addressing Eurogamer, the “Ubisoft Original” brand will now feature on any game “created in-house by our talented developers.”
Perhaps the reasonHeartlandwas thus branded like this first among Ubisoft’s titles is its distance from Clancy’s original work.The Divisionwas already pretty separate from Clancy’s original work and the work of his successors. It is also developed by Red Storm, a studio founded by Clancy that has been instrumental in the development of many Tom Clancy branded games. Still, with that studio under Ubisoft’s umbrella since 2000, there’s no doubt it is a Ubisoft Original. In fact, so far there are no Ubisoft games that wouldn’t fit this label. This means thatif the rumoredMandaloriangame is made by Ubisoft, it will likely bear the Ubisoft Original brand as well.
Why Ubisoft now wants to label its games like this is not clear at this time. Typically a seal like this brings to mind a shared level of quality, such as the Nintendo Seal of Approval in the days of the NES and SNES. Perhaps seeing it under theFar Cry 6title will bringjoy to those waiting for the game.
On the other hand, this could mean Ubisoft intends to outsource its games to other, out-of-house studios in the near future. In that case, the label would help create a clear distinction. Perhaps this would lead toexpansions of Ubisoft game franchises likeFar Cry. Only time will tell.
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