Ubisoft: We will be a VR industry leader

Publisher Ubisoft is the first major third-party publisher to back virtual reality.

The firm is developing multiple VR projects with an aim of becoming an ‘industry leader’ in the technology.

Ubisoft’s stance comes in contrast to some of its rivals, who have decided to wait and see before investing significantly in VR.

Ubisoft announced that Trackmania will receive VR support, but outside of that it only announced a handful of tech demos – Eagle Flight, a Rabbids Theme Park ride and a scene from Far Cry 3. Nevertheless, the publisher promises there will announce ‘multiple projects’ in the months to come.

These projects are just the beginning. Ubisoft has a reputation for being an innovator and leader for all new platforms and technologies,” said David Votypka, creative director at Ubisoft’s Red Storm Studio.

And that is going to be the case with VR as well. Where it is appropriate we will bring our brands to VR and create new brands where necessary, all with the goal of becoming an industry leader in amazing virtual reality experiences.”

Ubisoft Montreal boss Yanis Mallat added: Ubisoft has always taken certain risks with the games we create, some pay off, and some of them don’t. But each time, regardless of the outcome, we learn something from them

We invested early on Wii and Wii U with games in different genres. And we are one of the only big publishers to invest money in our team’s passion projects.”