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Ubisoft - Switch thoughts, winning back Wii audience, connecting mobile/TV worlds, future support, outselling Wii U

by rawmeatcowboy
18 January 2017
GN Version 5.0

A portion of a GamesIndustry interview with Ubisoft's Xavier Poix...

GI.biz: What were your thoughts after the reveal of the Switch?

Xavier Poix: Every launch of a console, especially a Nintendo console for me, is an event. It is a console that we have been working on for some time. We have a very long history between the French Ubisoft studios - especially the Paris and Montpellier studios - and Nintendo. It is the third Nintendo console that will arrive with some Ubisoft titles at launch. On Wii, we had Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids, and Wii U there was ZombiU, and now with Switch we have a few titles for launch and later. And of course we have more plans for the future. So it is an exciting moment. It will be interesting to see how the gamers, and not only the Nintendo fans but the whole market, will respond to it. Nintendo has proved it can surprise everybody. Even though we knew some aspects of the console, we were surprised by the high quality games coming. Plus, there are some very interesting features for it.

What I was very happy to hear about was the fact that Nintendo has followed its strategy of enlarging the gaming audience, with a console that could be appealing to a very broad audience of gamers. Yes, Nintendo fans first, but also in the longer term a more casual audience. The portfolio of games they showed reflected that.

GI.biz: A lot of that original Wii audience has moved onto other platforms and devices - particularly mobile. What makes you think Switch can win them back?

Xavier Poix: Today, we have two ways of playing - and a lot of people are doing both. There is the high-end, high value, experience that you have at home in front of your TV - in multiplayer or not. But when the TV isn't there anymore, if someone else is using it for example, then you are left alone with your mobile phone. So there is a need for Switch, and we probably don't realise it right now, which is what makes this so interesting. There is a promise of keeping the player in the world that he or she loves. Switch can really change the way people are interacting with their games and the worlds we are creating.

I am confident Nintendo can create a bridge between the worlds of mobile and TV. Between the desire to play on the TV, but also the need to play somewhere else because you can't be in front of your TV all the time.

GI.biz: With Wii U, you supported that machine in a big way initially, but then when the sales didn't arrive the support dried up. What makes you think Switch won't suffer the same fate?

Xavier Poix: The message of the Wii U wasn't clear enough. I think what they really did well with the Wii is that they found a new system, a new way of playing and an easy way of showing that to every audience. In terms of the Wii U, the idea of playing with two screens, and with a controller that is bigger than usual, it is something that is very hard to explain. It is ok when you play games that use this feature, because you understand, but it's not something you can understand very easily by just seeing it. I think the Switch, from day one - which I think is why they introduced the Switch at first without any other information - is to see if the message is something that people can easily understand. And for me it is simple. You know the handheld console, you know the home console, the Switch is the bridge. It is a home console on-the-go. It is a very simple message that anyone can understand. Of course there are more features that you'd need to play to understand it properly, but I am really confident that the messaging itself - which was key to the success of Wii - is there for the Switch.

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Mr. Poix also had a bit to mention about Ubisoft's future support of the Switch, which you can find below.

So we are bringing titles that we think fit with what Switch is all about. Of course, in the future we have other things that we will be very happy to share with you at a later date.

[Link]