????法國電子游戲制造商育碧（Ubisoft）如今已經(jīng)成為了世界最大的第三方游戲公司之一。玩家們對(duì)這家公司的大作如《刺客信條》（Assassin’s Creed）、《孤島驚魂》（Far Cry）及湯姆?克蘭西冠名的系列游戲已經(jīng)耳熟能詳。而這家公司利用《瘋兔》（Rabbids）和《舞力全開》（Just Dance）系列作品也成功吸引了廣大人群的關(guān)注。

????根據(jù)韋德布什證券（Wedbush Securities）電子游戲分析師邁克爾?帕切特的說法，育碧的《刺客信條》系列每一部的銷量都能超過1000萬，而《孤島驚魂》系列每一部銷量則有600萬到800萬，《瘋兔》系列游戲每一部通常也能賣出200萬套以上，《舞力全開》系列的全球銷量則接近5000萬。

????育碧的開放世界式動(dòng)作游戲《看門狗》（Watch Dogs）一經(jīng)推出就立刻引起轟動(dòng)，上市第一周就賣出了400多萬套。游戲打造了一個(gè)虛擬的芝加哥，而育碧也打開了一個(gè)新的發(fā)展領(lǐng)域。

????育碧首席執(zhí)行官兼共同創(chuàng)始人伊夫?吉列莫特說：“通過新一代游戲控制臺(tái)，我們得以推出一些具有新鮮感的新品牌，這在業(yè)內(nèi)是常有的事。通過《看門狗》，我們有了無縫的線下和線上游戲玩法，還能夠讓使用移動(dòng)產(chǎn)品的玩家通過免費(fèi)的移動(dòng)端游戲與家用機(jī)玩家一起娛樂。我們?cè)谂f版的平臺(tái)上發(fā)布游戲時(shí)，這些事都是我們幾乎不敢想象的?！?/p>

????從2013年秋季起跳票多次的《看門狗》大獲成功，也給了游戲業(yè)一個(gè)信號(hào)：不論何時(shí)，市場(chǎng)對(duì)于大作都具有強(qiáng)烈的渴望。目前，游戲業(yè)仍然把大部分鴻篇巨制擠在第四季度發(fā)布，試圖利用熱鬧的假日購物季增加銷量。

????吉列莫特說：“《看門狗》的成功證明，玩家在一年中的任何時(shí)候都是想玩游戲的，在不同的時(shí)間段給玩家們提供一些具有吸引力的玩法，這點(diǎn)十分重要。這種情況曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過，如果大家還記得我們1999年6月發(fā)布的《車神》（Driver）的話。通過在每年的不同時(shí)間段發(fā)布游戲?qū)τ螒驑I(yè)有好處?！?/p>

????育碧今年6月9日至12日于洛杉磯舉辦的電子娛樂展覽（E3游戲展）上展示了一系列新游戲。今年的第四季度假期中，這家公司將會(huì)發(fā)布新作。不過在2015年的每個(gè)季度，它也都會(huì)推出新產(chǎn)品。今年秋天最吸引人的作品是《刺客信條：大革命》（Assassin’s Creed Unity），玩家們將會(huì)深入法國大革命的事件中心。

????吉列莫特說：“《刺客信條》有意思的地方在于嗎，這個(gè)系列會(huì)定期發(fā)布新作，擁有廣大的全球玩家群體，這讓我們有了許多創(chuàng)新的可能性。我們可以讓許多不同的團(tuán)隊(duì)來協(xié)作開發(fā)新的創(chuàng)新元素，他們知道自己有資本冒險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)樗麄児逃械姆劢z群體已經(jīng)到了這個(gè)規(guī)模。”

????育碧還將在不久的將來繼續(xù)推出湯姆?克蘭西系列的游戲，比如《全境封鎖》（The Division）。育碧最早與這位已故的作家合作，發(fā)布了《恐懼殺機(jī)》（The Sum of All Fears）和《幽靈行動(dòng)》（Ghost Recon）等游戲，取得了初步的成功后，隨后又拓展到原創(chuàng)游戲如《鷹擊長空》（H.A.W.X.）和《止戰(zhàn)之殤》（EndWar）。在E3上展出的湯姆?克蘭西系列新作是《全境封鎖》以及《彩虹六號(hào)：圍攻》（Rainbow Six Siege）。

????吉列莫特說：“湯姆?克蘭西真的是一個(gè)能夠創(chuàng)造未來的人，因?yàn)樗麜?huì)花很多時(shí)間研究當(dāng)下的局面，預(yù)測(cè)這些局面會(huì)對(duì)接下來發(fā)生的事情產(chǎn)生什么樣的影響。大家在這些游戲中可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，能用一些新工具探尋不遠(yuǎn)的未來。這些工具在當(dāng)今尚不存在，但通常是基于一些現(xiàn)有的雛形設(shè)計(jì)的，讓人可以想象一下未來的世界將會(huì)是什么樣子。”

????像《看門狗》一樣，《全境封鎖》和《刺客信條：大革命》都提供了開放式世界，讓玩家們可以自行探索。

????吉列莫特稱：“我們的目標(biāo)是盡可能地利用新款游戲控制器和PC機(jī)的能力，營造開放式世界的體驗(yàn)。我們很擅于開發(fā)強(qiáng)大的游戲引擎來創(chuàng)造人們從未見過的高品質(zhì)逼真世界。我們將技術(shù)的進(jìn)步以及顧客接觸互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的程度前所未有這一現(xiàn)實(shí)結(jié)合了起來。”

????玩家們也變得更成熟了。根據(jù)游戲研究機(jī)構(gòu)Entertainment Software Agency的調(diào)查，美國玩家的平均年齡是31歲，而最頻繁地購買游戲的美國玩家平均年齡是35歲。這讓育碧開始在《看門狗》中嘗試政府竊聽和高深的黑客技術(shù)這類主題，育碧還在《全境封鎖》中引入了生物恐怖主義，在《刺客信條：大革命》講述了法國大革命。

????吉列莫特說：“將電子游戲與好萊塢電影或其他媒體比較時(shí)，有一點(diǎn)十分重要。我們讓玩家們能夠散發(fā)出個(gè)人的光輝。對(duì)顧客而言，極具吸引力的一點(diǎn)在于，這些游戲并不單是講述一個(gè)故事。你能感受到自己的經(jīng)歷，而不是那些好萊塢導(dǎo)演的經(jīng)歷。這個(gè)特質(zhì)將會(huì)使電子游戲業(yè)吸引到越來越多的人。”

????在即將于今年11月發(fā)布的游戲《瘋兔入侵：互動(dòng)電視劇》（Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show）中，育碧將好萊塢元素與游戲結(jié)合在了一起。吉列莫特表示，去年秋天發(fā)布的《瘋兔入侵》電腦動(dòng)畫片已經(jīng)被全球超過3億觀眾通過Nickelodeon等頻道觀看。育碧挑選了劇中20段情節(jié)，通過Xbox Kinect和PlayStation Camera在其中加入了多人互動(dòng)玩法。

????吉列莫特說：“比起電影，電視劇甚至更接近于電子游戲，因?yàn)殡娨晞】梢杂泻脦准荆瑥亩峁└L時(shí)間的娛樂體驗(yàn)。當(dāng)某款電子游戲不再流行，電視劇還在繼續(xù)播出。《瘋兔入侵》已經(jīng)取得了很大的成功，成為了美國最好的5部少兒電視劇之一，在許多國家風(fēng)靡一時(shí)。我們已經(jīng)著手制作第二季，這個(gè)系列的作品會(huì)延續(xù)很長一段時(shí)間。這將繼續(xù)幫助我們建立跨媒體的品牌?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

????French video game publisher Ubisoft has emerged as one of the largest third-party game companies in the world today. Best known by gamers for hit franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and the Tom Clancy-branded games, the developer has also captured mainstream attention with its Rabbids and Just Dance titles.

????According to Wedbush Securities video game analyst Michael Pachter, Ubisoft consistently sells 10 million copies of each Assassin’s Creed game, while its Far Crytitles sell between 6 and 8 million copies and Rabbidsgames routinely sell over 2 million copies. Ubisoft’sJust Dance franchise is nearing global sales of 50 million copies.

????Ubisoft has an instant hit with its open world action game, Watch Dogs, which has already sold over 4 million copies in just its first week at retail. The game introduces a virtual world of Chicago and a new IP for Ubisoft to build from moving forward.

????“It’s been the case many times in the industry that new consoles have allowed us to launch new brands that bring something new,” said Yves Guillemot, CEO and co-founder of Ubisoft. “With Watch Dogs we have seamless offline and online gameplay and the ability to have mobile gamers play alongside console gamers with a free mobile game. These are things that we couldn’t even conceive when we launched games on the old platforms.”

????The success of Watch Dogs, which was delayed from a Fall 2013 release, also shows the industry that there’s an appetite for big games year-round. The game industry still weighs most of its big releases in the crowded Q4 release window as publishers try to capitalize on the busy holiday shopping season.

????“Watch Dogs’ success shows that gamers want to play all year long and it’s very important to give them something attractive to play at different time frames,” said Guillemot. “It’s something that happened in the past, if you remember Driver was launched in June 1999. The game industry can benefit from taking advantage of releasing games at different times in the year.”

????Ubisoft is using the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles June 9-12 to showcase its new lineup of games. The company will be releasing games this holiday, but also has games launching in each quarter through 2015. One of its big releases for this fall is Assassin’s Creed Unity, which puts gamers into the heart of the French Revolution.

????“What’s interesting with Assassin’s Creed is the fact that because it’s released on a regular basis and it has a global community, it’s a franchise that offers a lot of possibilities to innovate,” said Guillemot. “We can put lots of different teams working on new innovative elements, but they know they can take risks because they have that built-in fan base.”

????Ubisoft continues the Tom Clancy legacy with new games set in the near-future like Tom Clancy’s The Division. The company has had success first working directly with the late author on games like The Sum of All Fears, Ghost Recon and later expanding into original games like H.A.W.X. and EndWar. New Clancy games at E3 are The Division and Rainbow Six Siege.

????“Tom Clancy is really a man that was able to create the future because he spent a lot of time exploring current day situations and anticipating how those situations will impact what will happen next,” said Guillemot. “What you find in these games is the ability to explore the near future with new tools that are not yet available today but very often are based on prototypes that can give you an idea of what the world of tomorrow will be.”

????Like Watch Dogs, both The Division and Assassin’s Creed Unity offer gamers open worlds to explore on their own.

????“The goal is to use as much possible capacity from the new consoles and the PC to deliver open-world experiences,” said Guillemot. “We’re very good at creating game engines that are extremely powerful and that are helping to create worlds that are at a level of fidelity and quality that has never been seen before. We’re combining the improvement of technology with the fact that our customers are more connected now than ever before.”

????Gamers are also more sophisticated. According to the Entertainment Software Agency, the average American gamer is 31 and the average age of the most frequent U.S. game purchaser is 35. This has allowed Ubisoft to explore topics like government spying and the intricacies of hacking in Watch Dogs, as well as bio terrorism in The Division and the French Revolution in Assassin’s Creed Unity.

????“This is something that is very important when you compare video games to Hollywood or other media. We offer players the ability to shine as individuals,” said Guillemot. “What’s extremely attractive for consumers is that these games aren’t about one story. It’s really about living your experience, not the experience of one Hollywood director. That’s what is going to attract more people to the video game industry.”

????Ubisoft is blending Hollywood and gaming with its November release, Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show. Launched last Fall, Guillemot said the computer-animated TV show has been watched by over 300 million people worldwide through networks like Nickelodeon. Ubisoft is taking 20 episodes of the show and adding multiplayer interactivity through the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Camera.

????“Television is even closer to video games than movies because it offers longer entertainment experiences through seasons, so it’s something that can live on at the same time the video game is out,” said Guillemot. “Rabbids has been a major success with the show being in the Top 5 in the U.S. for best TV series for kids and its popular in many countries. We’ve already signed on for Season two, and this series is going to continue for quite a while now. It will continue to help build the brand across media.”

????fine, again, under veteran COO Tim Cook. But the day will inevitably come when the board will have to a find a permanent replacement for their iconic leader.