That's quite a bit bet, Ubisoft. Let's hope you can carve a nice little niche next to CoD, Battlefield, Halo, Half-Life, ect. The shooter market is too crowded. This has bust potential unless the Tom Clancy games really give some innovation.
Ubisoft investing $507M in Splinter Cell shop
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
French publisher to add 800 jobs at Toronto outfit in next 10 years, hopes to replicate success of Montreal studio in the process.
Ubisoft will invest CA$500 million ($507 million USD) in its Splinter Cell studio in Toronto and add 800 new staffers over the next 10 years as a means to replicate the success of its Montreal outfit, according to a new report in Canadian newspaper Financial Post.
Ubisoft Toronto was founded in 2009 and is presently at work on the newest Splinter Cell game, rumored to be titled Retribution. Currently, the studio boasts 210 programmers and designers, but the headcount is expected to quintuple by 2022.
In much the same way that Ubisoft moved established developers from its Paris base of operations to its studio in Montreal, the firm has also tapped veterans--like managing director Jade Raymond--to head up the new outfit.
"We are, in a way, applying the same recipe," said Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat. "We've been sending over experienced, senior people from Ubisoft Montreal as a guarantee that they immediately get traction and speed and knowledge in place so that they can recruit the best people. You can't hope to have a studio up and running in one year by just hiring junior people."
On top of Ubisoft's direct investment of a half billion dollars, the shop is receiving monetary help from the Ontario government in the form of a CA$263 million ($266 million USD) pledge spread across the next 10 years.
A new Splinter Cell title will be Ubisoft Toronto's first project. Details are thin on that game, but Raymond said earlier this year that it will explore "root themes" while also boasting "all of the action flick elements."
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
32 comments
Well Red Dead Redemption was amazing and that was $100M so $500M going to one of my favorite franchises is a welcome investment lol I just hope the money is put to good use and they make an amazing Splinter Cell game soon. (I've loved them all so far!) Also put some of that money to the new Rainbow Six and I'll be even happier :D!
2 Like I've enjoyed all of the Splinter Cell games so far although I hope with the next one they go back to a bigger focus on stealth rather than almost exclusive shooting like Conviction was (although I highly enjoyed Conviction as well).
2 Like @Jedilink109 I found the game could be played both ways, and it was balanced either way. I see your point, though, and agree with it to a certain extent.
At a time when it seems nearly all the news around studios involves layoffs or shutdowns, this is refreshing. I think it's great.
Big fan of the franchise since the beginning. Even in off years, there is always something compelling about each game. Can't wait to see what they do next.
Awesome, I hope the next game isn't similar to the last one, it diverged too much from the originals. The levels were way too short and there definitely wasn't the same sense of challenge, things seemed a bit too easy :(
2 Like conviction was awesome so if the next one is like that game but better i am buying.
5 Like If you want to bring success back to the SC series,go back to its roots,let the game be all about stealth and patience,only with some new features and improvements.We don't have much games like that nowdays,so it would also be quite refreshing to once again see a game like that...
Conviction was a somewhat decent game on its own,but a horrible sequel to the SC franchise.Stop trying to CoD-ify and "casualize" the game,go back to the things that made SC great and unique,and Im sure you'll make good profit.It was a very popular franchise back in the days of Chaos Theory,which is not only the best SC game,but also one of the best games I've ever played...
3 Like Unless it sticks with stealth im not interested. Any developer/publisher that stops experimenting with niche markets and goes with the mainstream is a waste to me.
1 Like I just kinda hope they ramp up the AI a bit. Even on realistic difficulty, I never really found Conviction to be all that challenging. Then again, I think mark & execute kind of broke the game. I know it was supposed to make Sam feel like an all-powerful badass on the hunt (which I think it did), but it make Sam feel OP to me. To top that off, once you upgraded the Five-seveN to execute 4 people at a time, clearing rooms was a breeze.
I realize the series couldn't stay the same forever, but I do hope they make Retribution more action-focused stealth than stealthy action. That or I could just go back to playing Chaos Theory. Either way, I look forward to more news about Retribution with great anticipation. I've got my fingers crossed for an E3 announcement.
5 Like Sure hope it's better than conviction and double agent. Chaos Theory was as good as it got for me.
@drknessfeeds @dav2693 I just miss the "thumbs down" thing. I loved that about the GS comment thing, it let me see what people were thinking plus it eliminated some spam lol
1 Like 507 million dollars?! I'm expecting good games to come with Ubisoft, game developers.. please don't waste the money :)
9 Like Damn it this new system is just awful...
I will never understand why they feel the need to change something when no1 was complaining about the old system.
8 Like oh look they changed the comment system oh joy its so.....great oh yeah no its not.
4 Like ...or you could go back to the formula that made it the best stealth action game on the market...before double agent and conviction...where UBI insisted on changing it...just because...
... I don't know.. It seems like a .. unnecessary investment.. and kind of.. unimaginative as well!
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
- Publisher(s): Ubisoft
- Developer(s): Ubisoft Toronto
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