Ubisoft's efforts to expand its popular video game franchises to other forms of entertainment have proven to be an educational experience for the company. Speaking with IGN at Gamescom 2017, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot shed light on a few lessons the studio learned from entrusting its IP to outside talent for last year's Assassin's Creed movie.
"In doing the script, we had quite a bit of control of what it could be," Guillemot said of the Michael Fassbender-led live-action adaption, which didn't perform especially well at the box office. However, when the film was released, it became clear to Ubisoft that the studio didn't have quite as much control as they initially thought.
"What we realized with the launch of the movie is that we thought we had more control, but... [ultimately] we didn't have as much control as we thought," Guillemot explained, noting Ubisoft wants to ensure it has more control over its properties for future collaborations.
Guillemot went on to highlight the differences between collaborations in the video game and film industries. "In the video game industry, when you're not ready, you push the date. In the movie industry, you don't push the date. So if something is not going to be perfect, you can't change it," he explained.
"Sometimes it's just changing the way things are done—re-filming a little bit, shooting again a few small scenes—but when you have a date, it's very difficult to change the date," he added. As such, Guillemot doesn't want Ubisoft to find itself in that position in the future. Instead, he wants to ensure Ubisoft is able see how the project is progressing, and have enough time to make improvements, so they can release it in a state that they're happy with.
Guillemot reiterated his desire to make sure Ubisoft has "more control [and] more collaboration with studios" for future projects based on its properties, noting he believes release dates shouldn't be set too early—that way they'll have the flexibility to change things if needed. "I know it's difficult for the film industry, which is running by dates a long time in advance, but their industry will change like our industry changed," he said.
Ubisoft has a number of new entertainment projects on the horizon, including an Assassin's Creed TV series. Additionally, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, which produced last year's Assassin's Creed movie, is producing a Splinter Cell movie starring Tom Hardy and a film based on The Division that stars Jake Gyllenhaal.
Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn.
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