We all know that games costs tens of millions of dollars to develop. But what if a publisher decided to make a game that was primarily made from content developed by the rank and file – the gamers themselves?
Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, is saying these very things at his keynote address at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival regarding the next step the industry needs to go in producing successful games.
He said, "The goal is really to make sure our consumers become creators. We need to put gamers in the spotlight and recognize their creativity and make sure that our consumers are the stars."
Ubisoft wants to put the tools into the hands of gamers so that original content can be produced and be judged by their peers. "If the creator only has an Xbox 360 then we will help him port [the content] to another console…the goal is to make sure that users can show their friends that they are capable of creating content and prove it to themselves."
Guillemot is dead serious about all of this and continued, "We are making sure that the consumer is rewarded for his creativity and that he is judged by the community, and these elements will encourage this person to continue his creativity. And once he knows how to use our tools he will create more."
Ubisoft is currently working on a secret project that will be focused on user created content. Who knows, perhaps one of you will be one of the contributors.
