Ubisoft’s Anne Blondel-Jouin: Launch sales important but not critical

Retail figures have been down on numerous big-name releases in recent months, causing a few people to worry about whether the future of AAA retail could be in trouble. One of the people not worrying is Ubisoft, who are preferring to take a long-term view.

Speaking in MCV this week, Anne Blondel-Jouin, VP of live operations at Ubisoft, said that while week one retail is important, it’s not critical: "As long as the feedback from the gamers and the community is great, that means we have achieved our No.1 objective – the rest will come afterwards."

Blondel-Jouin admitted that new titles need a player-base so that word of mouth can be spread, but that big sales aren’t essential. You can see this with the player figures for Rainbow Six Siege, which have been rising since the game’s launch.

"There is a trend toward games, especially high-quality games," said Blondel-Jouin. "Having stronger and longer ‘tails’ as favourable reviews and word-of-mouth spread."

You can read the full interview in MCV’s December 2nd issue.