Ubisoft reaping benefits from its gambit with the Wii

Electronic Arts, the world’s top game producer, is still locked on its place above every game outfit in the planet. However, it sees threats looming in the horizon. The biggest, perhaps, is coming by way of Paris in the form of Ubisoft.

“If you’re looking for companies that we admire and that might well keep us up at night, think about companies like Ubisoft that made a quicker and more forceful move against the Wii and Nintendo DS,” admits EA boss John Riccitielo.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter would tell you that Riccitielo is talking about what Ubisoft did back in 2005 before details on the next generation of consoles were released to the public. At a time when big firms like EA, Activision and Take-Two were prepping up renewed ties with Microsoft and Sony, Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot listened to Nintendo and sent a ream to Kyoto to have a look at a Wii prototype.

At that time, a move such as that one would have taken some guts. Nintendo was reeling off blows it suffered with the demise of its GameCube in the last console cycle and they were touting a new machine that they said would not compete with rivals in terms of technical specs. What sounded like a recipe for defeat for most didn’t faze Guillemot and what they found was a true revolution in the making.

“Their new machine was really interesting because it was going to help solve a problem, that of accessibility,” recalls the Ubisoft chief. He got the first hint of success when a large crowd waited patiently to sample the Wii in E3 2006. Rival software makers saw it as well, but by that time Ubisoft was already a year ahead in game development.

Today, the Wii is the fastest-selling console in history, and Ubisoft is the leading third party game maker in the platform. As the gaming industry saw a five percent rise in its pace last year, Ubisoft saw a 25 percent climb. Where EA’s stock rose 19 percent, Ubisoft’s own doubled up. Analysts are calling the 2005 move “well played” and nobody’s contesting it.

Via Bloomberg

Electronic Arts, the world’s top game producer, is still locked on its place above every game outfit in the planet. However, it sees threats looming in the horizon. The biggest, perhaps, is coming by way of Paris in the form of Ubisoft.

“If you’re looking for companies that we admire and that might well keep us up at night, think about companies like Ubisoft that made a quicker and more forceful move against the Wii and Nintendo DS,” admits EA boss John Riccitielo.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter would tell you that Riccitielo is talking about what Ubisoft did back in 2005 before details on the next generation of consoles were released to the public. At a time when big firms like EA, Activision and Take-Two were prepping up renewed ties with Microsoft and Sony, Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot listened to Nintendo and sent a ream to Kyoto to have a look at a Wii prototype.

At that time, a move such as that one would have taken some guts. Nintendo was reeling off blows it suffered with the demise of its GameCube in the last console cycle and they were touting a new machine that they said would not compete with rivals in terms of technical specs. What sounded like a recipe for defeat for most didn’t faze Guillemot and what they found was a true revolution in the making.

“Their new machine was really interesting because it was going to help solve a problem, that of accessibility,” recalls the Ubisoft chief. He got the first hint of success when a large crowd waited patiently to sample the Wii in E3 2006. Rival software makers saw it as well, but by that time Ubisoft was already a year ahead in game development.

Today, the Wii is the fastest-selling console in history, and Ubisoft is the leading third party game maker in the platform. As the gaming industry saw a five percent rise in its pace last year, Ubisoft saw a 25 percent climb. Where EA’s stock rose 19 percent, Ubisoft’s own doubled up. Analysts are calling the 2005 move “well played” and nobody’s contesting it.

Via Bloomberg