Will The Division be neglected if things don't end up well?

If The Division turns out to be a flop and people get bored of it pretty quick do you think Ubisoft are going to leave the game as it is or will they try to "revive" it?

 

That's a good point, and I think we need to look at the Watch_Dogs franchise as a good indicator. If Ubisoft gives up on Watch_Dogs (I love spelling it with the underscore, haha), we know they wouldn't hesitate to jettison a franchise that didn't hit gold for them. I don't know if they have another hit like Assassin's Creed, but I don't know if it's fair to hold all of your franchises to that level.

 

I think Ubisoft will abandon it. If you take a look at Ubisofts line up of games, most of them are well established games that could've been a good trilogy but they try to milk the hell out of it until it becomes stale and die out. Ubisoft isn't really like Valve or any other game studios that is in it for the art and not for the money.

 

Yep, they'll drop it. The Division looks pretty cool, but Ubisoft is a business, and business means going with what's profitable over showing loyalty to an IP that doesn't work. Especially if it's a newer IP.

This is a lower-risk prospect for them, as well, because even though Division is a 'new' IP it's also a part of the well-known Clancy family, so it's probably going to at least make their money back through initial sales, even if it doesn't have much longevity.

 

Ubisoft are probably going to drop it once the initial sales die down, unless of course it does become an overnight success. The Clancy name will be sure to generate plenty of interest but that won't last too long with all the competition out there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I know that big money companies like Ubisoft dont really care about a certain games community, only about how much money they're making on that particular game, once its no longer profitable, its goodbye from them.

 

I know for a fact that The Division will not reach the level of Assassin's Creed at the moment, it's a new franchise after all. I just hope they have enough faith to keep this one going, the backstory is pretty good.

 

I guess the advantage of this IP is that it's part of the Clancyverse, meaning that you can get rid of this group or setting, but you can still dip into the Tom Clancy Universe and go "No, it's totally not the Division, this is a completely separate part of the Clancy lore" and get away with releasing it as a new IP. I should go work in the Ubisoft PR department, haha.

I disagree with saying that they are milking their franchises. A lot of people say Assassin's Creed games are coming out at too rapid of a pace, but they sell extremely well, and honestly I've enjoyed them all. They're good, quality games. The same way that Call of Duty is a quality game. Yes, you may be fatigued with those franchises, and you may feel that they don't change enough but they are still AAA games. AC: Brotherhood was just more missions with Enzio but it was still a lot of fun to play. It didn't innovate in any way, but I was just happy to get more story in that universe. It was pretty much a full game length DLC, and I'm cool with that.

They all started with one game.

 

Assassin's Creed got off to a slow start AFAIK, the first game was just a prototype to test the waters. This is why I'm worried right now, maybe Ubisoft don't want to risk it even though it may turn into a success like the AC franchise.

 

I'm not saying AC games are bad, they're good and I do love them but the way I see things, Ubisoft is squeezing the franchise, since most people are still buying the game and there's nothing wrong with that, it's completely legitimate and I'd probably do the same if I own Ubisoft. But In comparison to games like Half Life or Portal, they're really good games and I'm pretty sure they'd makes tons of money if Valve started making sequels, but they didn't since the game and story is over. Although when it comes to AC, yes there are limitless possibilities but the way I see it, Ubisoft is sticking to what's already there. Most AC games are pretty much taking place in the west which is fine but I think having a major AC game set in Japan, China or someplace else would be really great. Also, the game didn't really evolve ever since AC 1 came out. It's pretty much just the same Sneakers bar with a new wrapper, it's still good and we still love it, but it's still the same old thing.

 

But is it really squeezing the franchise if you're able to release a quality game every year? I've played all of the AC games and there isn't one that didn't hit the mark (again, for me).

I may be with you on Portal, but Half-Life... People have been clamouring for a sequel to give us a proper ending to that game series since pretty much forever. I don't know what Valve is thinking...

I agree to a point, that I would love to see an AC game set in Japan or China, but you can't say that the AC games have all taken place in the same spot. There has been various settings. I also think that there has been a gradual improvement, more so than just a new wrapper, so I'd say it's a Snickers bar but with more peanuts, more chocolate and more deliciousness.

 

They'll try their best to support it for sure, and they usually market their games well so it's going to be fine. But ultimately with a game like this, online I mean, its lifespan will depend from the player base itself. If the game doesn't interest players enough, it will be abandoned quickly thus I don't see them making a sequel or supporting it in any way.

 

Well in a way I think it's squeezing it, not really in terms of quality since almost every AC games are good and it's amazing how the AC team can pull off a new game every year but I think it's the idea of the game that's being squeezed, I don't know, maybe it's just me but the series feels a bit tired don't you think?

Every year I would watch the trailer and I'll get so pumped because they're introducing new things (like the naval ship system) and when I do get my hands on the game it feels, well tired you know?

But anyways, I think it would be really cool if they try to make a new AC game set in Japan or China or something. Like for example, if it's in Japan, you got ninjas and maybe bump up the stealth system even more. That would be awesome!

 

They probably would since it's still a business and if that business venture isn't working out as expected then it's best to scrap it off the table and try again.

I've never really seen Ubisoft try to revive or continue a lost franchise/game. I mean look at Haze, game looked promising, turns out to be crap and what did Ubisoft do? Throw it out the window.

 

It's ubi, of course it will.

 

If it flops, I think Ubisoft will take steps to revitalize the game. After all, I can imagine the development costs for this game is substantial, and it wouldn't make sense for such a large developer to up and abandon a game because of a bad release. If anything, they will go overtime to install major hotfixes and patches so the game can still be enjoyable.

If players are still ignoring the game after patches and fixes roll out, then they may decide to shut down the servers and abandon it, but I don't foresee them doing that until months after the game is released. An example I can give is Infinite Crisis, which was released a while ago. It garnered little interest, yet the developers didn't pull the plug until months down the road.

 

Ubisoft couldn't care less if it dies, they'll just force The Division 2 with fake promises. If it succeeds, they'll probably leave the game as it is with bugs and all, and only come back to it to shove aggressive DLC in our faces. I'm not hating on the Division, I just have low expectations after all the horrible Ubisoft games. The best possible thing they could do is provide mod tools or server files to the community a few years down the line, but that's extremely unlikely.

 

They might try to revive it, but if it flops, that's dangerous. People will be less likely to give it another shot. They should just get it right the first time. They would probably abandon it though.

 

Name the horrible Ubisoft games? Other than the gongshow of Unity (which I hear has been pretty much fixed), I'd say that Ubisoft has a good track record. It's easy to hate on them (the new EA maybe?) but you have to admit that the Assassin's Creed series has been quality. You may not like how they are similar and such, but every game has had amazing gameplay and graphics.

 

I think it's way too soon to even discuss things like these. I mean it's been three years since the game was announced and how many times has the game been delayed? It started out strong and it showed a lot of promise, but unfortunately it lost some of the steam because of the delays. I reckon it can still be a success, but chances are slimmer now. I'm purely speculating here, but if things go catastrophic for this game, then I think they'll abandon it, but if they can do alright, maybe just above breaking even, then I reckon they'll devote a lot more attention to it.

 

They showed the game too soon because they wanted to surprise the world just like they did with Watch Dogs. They could've solved this problem easily by not showing the game until it was ready. But alas this is Ubisoft we're talking about and they need to fuel the hype culture. And it's less than two months before the end of this year so they'll get back with showing more of this game very soon I bet.