Interview: Ubisoft's Detoc on Turning 'Gamers' into 'Players'

IndustryGamers: Ubisoft already has a fair amount of experience with motion sensing on the Wii. How do you feel about the new technologies from Microsoft and Sony? 

Detoc's smirk belies his plan for Ubisoft to take over the world...

Laurent Detoc: We like it. I'd like to see us become an industry not just for “gamers” but for players in general who might not feel comfortable [with standard controllers]. The change of the input device allows anyone to get into it – my father or mother could play. We like that because we think that's how we're going to grow the business. When my 73-year-old mother starts playing games, we're growing the business! So we like it because it's good for the industry, because we've been working on it, and because it's a good opportunity. We've been doing R&D around it for a while and we think there will be many good applications. And we have our own motion-sensing device with the Your Shape camera; so the first motion-sensing device that will show up on the market is going to be ours actually. We think this is a good direction.

IG: What's your take on Sony not dropping the PS3 price? Is that disappointing to Ubisoft?

LD: I'm not in Sony's shoes, so it's not my decision to make.  I think they know what they are doing... they have a great lineup of games. We actually look at them very carefully because we think we also have great games, and we went into E3 with a “we want the gamer back” attitude. Last year, we were more on the casual path, and we obviously love that business because it's a good business and helps grow the market, but focusing on the [core] gamer this year was really on our “to do” list.

IG: Right, you certainly have a bunch on your plate with Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Avatar...

LD: You know, Avatar is a very high quality product. I don't want to say it's a gamer's game because I want us to refer to people who play as players as opposed to gamers because the industry needs to be more encompassing. Avatar, because of the mass phenomenon the movie will be, will cater to much more than the hardcore, hobbyist gaming audience. The immersion from the 3-D [stereoscopic feature] is really something else. 

IG: Do you see 3-D stereoscopic gaming becoming a huge trend in this industry?

LD: Absolutely. I think if it's good, you'll see more of it. From what I've seen it's good; so it's a matter of installed base, getting TVs that are 3-D, putting the glasses on...

IG:  Right, it's not exactly something that can be mass market yet.

LD:  No, right now it's exclusive because it's expensive, but eventually there will be a lot of 3-D TVs and a lot of people will play 3-D games. But do players want to wear the glasses the whole time and how will the technology evolve? There are many questions that remain to be answered, but the technology really is impressive.  

IG: With this James Cameron Avatar collaboration and Ubisoft's acquisition of visual effects house Hybride, you've been pushing Hollywood convergence more and more these days. It seems like Ubisoft is looking to move more beyond games and into the entertainment business...

LD: No, it's not that we're moving more in one direction over the other. We like technology and look at it as a tool to use to bring us to the next steps, whether it's the 3-D camera and motion-sensing or the fact that we're getting closer to the quality needed for movies. Those are both strategic directions for us, and our business is to create entertainment experiences for people; technology serves that. 

We want people to enjoy the entertainment experiences that we give them... I need to come up with a better word than players because I think games will also go beyond play, but for now if we at least can go from gamer to player and make non-gamers comfortable like Nintendo has done by removing the barrier to entry with the controller, then we can continue to expand. We've taken a leadership role in this casual segment and we want to grab as many people as we can coming into this industry. This is a place for us to go to get new business.